A sleeper bus travelling from Jabalpur to Nagpur overturned near Dumri flyover at Kanhan around 4 am on Wednesday, killing the driver and injuring at least 10 passengers, including children. Police and local residents rescued the trapped passengers by cutting open the bus windows. The injured were taken to the Sub-District Hospital at Kamptee and later shifted to Mayo Hospital in Nagpur. The bus (MH-27/BX-6521), belonged to Royal Travels. It had left Jabalpur at around 10 pm on Tuesday with 25 to 30 passengers on board. The deceased driver was identified as Sunil Kumar Yadav (40), a resident of Khursapar Lakhnadaun in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh. He reportedly jumped from the bus as it overturned, but his head was struck by the vehicle, killing him on the spot. The bus fell into a ditch about four feet below the road.

 

On receiving information, Kanhan Police rushed to the spot. Rescuing the passengers trapped inside proved challenging for the cops. Police and local residents arranged generators, grinders and gas cutters to cut open the bus windows. Children were among the first to be rescued. Two Hydra cranes, a JCB machine and six ambulances, including a 108 ambulance, were called to the spot. The injured were shifted to a hospital for treatment. The injured passengers were identified as Manish Purnalal Patel (36), his wife Aarti Manish Patel (33), and their 12-year-old son Aarav Manish Patel, all residents of Jabalpur district of MP; Amitkumar Rajeshwar Ahirwar (41) and Kajal Amitkumar Ahirwar (41), residents of Lakhnadaun in MP; Shweta Chandrakant Sen (35) and Chandrakant Ashok Kumar Sen (37); Subhash Kailashchandra Vishwakarma (54), a resident of Butibori; and Shashikant Shivprasad Saratia (35) and Sukhmati Bai Shashikant Saratia (35), residents of Khursapar. The source did not provide the names of all the injured passengers. 

 

 

Police suspect that speeding, driver fatigue or the ongoing flyover construction may have contributed to the accident. Construction material was lying along the roadside as work on the second flyover, meant for traffic towards Jabalpur, was in progress. Acting on a complaint filed by Police Sub-Inspector Pankaj Gupta, Kanhan Police registered a case against the deceased driver, Project Director of Gray Infra Private Limited, Bhavneet Singh and site engineer Tarun Kumar. The complaint alleges that safety measures and barricades were not properly maintained near the excavation site that posed danger to the road users. Sub-Divisional Police Officer Shashanth Gowda, Police Station In-charge Vyjayanti Mandavadre, PSIs Pankaj Gupta and Mohit Zade, and Praveen Dahiwale coordinated the rescue operation. Ambulance driver Gaurav Bhoyer and local residents also helped the injured.