ELURU: As many as 34 students of a private school had a miraculous escape when the school bus in which they were travelling, fell into an irrigation canal at Tetali village in Tanuku Mandal Wednesday.
The police said that the school bus belongs to Stepping Stones School of ASR Educational Institutions, picked up 34 students at Peravali, Kapavaram, Kottapalli and Turpuvipparu villages and was taking to them to school.
All the students were studying in Classes LKG to 6. The driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle, resulting in the bus plunging into an agriculture canal. On hearing the screams of the students in the ill-fated bus, farmers and farmworkers, who were working in the nearby fields, rushed to the spot rescued the children. The police and officials heaved a sigh of relief as no one was injured in the mishap.
The narrow road leading to the school became skiddy after recent heavy rains. Without noticing this, the driver of the school bus drove the vehicle recklessly, causing the bus fall into the canal.“Had there not been a minor irrigation canal separating the main canal, the incident could have ended up as a major tragedy,” villagers said.
Local MLA Karumuru Venkateswara Rao enquired about the incident with school management. He also telephoned Motor Vehicle Inspector Ch Sampat Kumar and collected details of the accident.ASI Srinivasa Rao registered a case against the driver and the school management.