PUDUCHERRY: At least 45 people were injured when a private bus in which they were travelling veered off the road and toppled over in a sugarcane field near Katterikuppam on Thursday afternoon.
Sources said seven of the injured, including two women, suffered serious injuries and were admitted to the Government General Hospital. Sources added that over 60 people were on the bus when the accident took place.
Among the seriously injured, Chandra (50) and Thakshayani (53) were undergoing treatment at the female accident trauma ward.
According to the police, the bus was going from Puducherry to Suttukeni. As it approached a narrow road near a sugarcane field in Katterikuppam, driver, Venkatapathy applied sudden brakes to avoid a tractor coming out of the field. The bus skidded and landed in the field.
As the door of the bus got blocked after the capsize, the passengers had to be taken out through the windows. Residents of the nearby village rushed to the spot and helped the passengers get out. The victims were then rushed to the GH in ambulances.
At the GH, the victims, including three school children, were seen lined up for X-rays to detect fractures.
A doctor, attending on the victims, told Express that the fractures were suspected in at least five of the victims and that X-rays were being conducted on them.
Traffic police sub-inspector S Thiagarajan said 35 people, who were treated at the GH, were discharged in the evening.
One of those involved in the accident and was seriously injured, Chandra (50), before being taken to the female trauma ward, said she was experiencing pain in her body and her neck and hands, while Thakshayani fractured her hand.