SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, April 7: A dozen passengers including women were injured when Bhagalpur bound Jamshedpur Shankar –Parwati AC bus overturned near Indira Chowk under Jharia police station of the district late at night on Wednesday.
Jharia police station officer-in-charge PK Jha said all injured were admitted to Jharia Prasad Nursing Home and Lifeline Hospital after the incident. All of them are out of danger. After first aid, they were released in the morning.
Dr Naresh Prasad of Prasad Nursing Home told media persons that the condition of the injured passengers was not serious.
The police official said the incident occurred around 12.15 a.m. The bus was going to Bhagalpur from Jamshedpur via Dhanbad and Deoghar when it overturned at Indira Chowk of Jharia township. Since the bus was air-conditioned, the police with the help of local people had to break the glass windows to rescue the trapped passengers.
An auto and roadside hotel was also damaged badly in the accident. The auto driver also sustained an injury. After the incident, the bus driver and his helper escaped from the spot. Hotel operator Dhiren Mahto said that fortunately the Jharia main road, which remains busy even at night due to coal transporting, was empty at the time of the incident. Otherwise, major casualties would have occurred.
A passenger named Dinesh Kumar, who was travelling with his family alleged that the driver was drunk and was driving at high speed which led to the incident. “Passengers had been requesting him right from Purulia to drive at normal speed but he didn’t listen,” said the passenger.