BHOPAL: At least ten persons, including three women and a kid were killed after a bus boarded by villagers returning from Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav’s program, overturned following a head-on collision with a pick-up vehicle in Chhindwara district on Thursday evening.
More than 30 others were injured.
“The killer mishap happened at around 6.30 pm in Umarnala in Simariya area on Chhindwara-Nagpur Road, when the bus boarding the villagers from Chhindwara to Mokhed, collided head-on with a pick-up vehicle loaded with garlic, while overtaking another vehicle,” Chhindwara district collector Harendra Narayan said.
While mourning the loss of lives in the killer mishap, the State’s CM Dr Mohan Yadav announced assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs one lakh each to the critically injured.
“The minister in charge of Chhindwara district, Rakesh Singh, has been directed to rush to Chhindwara. Team of doctors from Jabalpur is being sent to Chhindwara and Nagpur for the best medical treatment of the injured,” the CM posted on X.
The bus was boarded by around 47 passengers. Of the deceased individuals, seven were boarded on the bus, and three were travelling in the garlic-loaded pick-up vehicle.
The deceased include the drivers of both the vehicles, sources said.
According to official sources, over 35 people have been admitted to the Chhindwara District Hospital, whose condition is stable.
Five others are stated to be critical. One with severe head injuries has been referred for life-saving treatment to the adjoining Nagpur in Maharashtra.
Many people whose family members and relatives were on the bus are rushing to the Chhindwara District Hospital.
One such villager, identified as Vinod Rajankar, was searching for his brother-in-law Madhukar Wankhede, a village panchayat secretary, who was accompanying the villagers back from the CM’s program.
Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav visited Chhindwara district on Thursday to attend a series of programmes.