School bus turns turtle in Bangalore; one student dies

A drunk school bus driver, gross negligence and apathy on part of school and civic authorities snuffed out the life of a 13-year-old boy and injured 15 other school kids belonging to Sarjapur’s St Philomena’s High School on Wednesday near Tindlu Gate on Sarjapur-Bagalur Road at around 4.45 pm.

The authorities failed to enforce safety rules while ferrying schoolchildren even as the drunk driver Govindaraju lost control of a 17-seater minibus overloaded with 35 schoolchildren while trying to negotiate a bend on Sarjapur-Bagalur road, barely 2km from the school. The vehicle careened off the road, hit a roadside tree, and rolled several times on its left to end up in a ditch wheels-up. The children were aged between six and 14 years.

It was 13-year-old VII Std Abhilash, son of a farmer from Chokkarasanapalli in Hosur Taluk of neighbouring Tamil Nadu, who sustained fatal injuries on his chest and head. He died at Sparsh Hospital.  “Abhilash had a compressed chest, severe head injuries and broken knee joints. We kept him on a ventilator…but he did not survive,” said Dr M Raghuraj, orthopaedician at Sparsh Hospital.

Fourteen-year-old R Jamuna, studying in Std VIII at the school, was the only other seriously injured student on the ill-fated bus who has been admitted to Sparsh. She is in a critical condition with head and abdominal injuries, besides glass shrapnel in her sides. She has been kept under observation. Ten other injured children were treated at Sarjapur Town Hospital, while Govindaraju who sustained severe injuries was operated upon at Veerayoga Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) in Marathahalli where five other schoolchildren are also admitted with moderate injuries.

Superintendent of police, Bangalore Rural, BA Mahesh, said Govindaraju is not in a condition to speak.

Sarjapur police station sub-inspector Raghavendra confirmed to DNA that Govindaraju was in an inebriated condition while ferrying the schoolchildren. The mini bus – one of 12 owned by the school – did not have a first-aid kit nor were the children accompanied by any school staffer to look after the children or warn the driver against rash and negligent driving; let alone to pull him up for reporting drunk for duty, the children and their parents told DNA.

A schoolboy, who was seated behind the driver, too, confirmed to DNA that “driver uncle was reeking of alcohol and was driving very rashly”. Eye-witnesses near St Philomena school who knew Govindaraju said he had visited a bar located just 100 metres away from the school just before driving the children to their homes.

A social worker said Govindaraju was already in an inebriated condition when he arrived on Wednesday from a political rally before stepping into the bar around 3.30pm.

School principal Chandraiah had switched off his mobile phone and remained incommunicado. The  school phone was also engaged. Parents said only a few teachers visited the hospital to say that medical bills would be paid by the school. But the school management remained away.

After the mishap, it was the passers-by who took the children to Sparsh Hospital, Sarjapur Town Hospital and VIMS.

Irate residents near Tindlu Gate later set the bus on fire before the police reinforcements reached the spot 45 minutes after. Police had to pacify the mob as they stood to prevent fire tenders from dousing the flames engulfing the ill-fated vehicle. By the time the mob relented, the mini bus was completely gutted.