15 killed as bus falls into MP rivulet

SIDHI (MP): Fifteen people, including two women and two children, were killed and 51 injured on Friday when the bus in which they were travelling fell into a rivulet at Kachhani village, about 100 km from here.

The private bus on its way to Pursona from Baidhan broke the railings of a bridge and fell into Kachhani rivulet when one of its tyres burst, killing 14 people on the spot, District Collector Sukhvir Singh said on phone from the accident site.

Another person succumbed to injuries during treatment at a nearby hospital, while 51 passengers were admitted to various hospitals at Baidhan, he said adding two of them were later referred to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh in a critical condition.

Rescue operation was carried out by divers and police personnel with the assistance of local residents, while efforts were on to lift the mangled bus out of the rivulet, Singh said.

Most of the casualties were caused due to rocky surface on which the bus fell and the height from the bridge though water level in the rivulet was low and its flow quite slow, he said adding that the rescue work was almost complete.

"The surface is hard and rocky and full of boulders, making the number of casualties high though there is not much water. The bus also fell from a high point," he said.

The possibility of passengers being swept away was also minimal as flow of water in the rivulet is slow, Singh said.