Three passengers killed as PRTC bus hits flyover and overturns into field on Bathinda-Chandigarh highway

Three passengers were killed in a road accident on the Bathinda-Chandigarh national highway in Punjab on Wednesday morning. A PRTC bus carrying passengers went out of the driver's control, hit a flyover with force and overturned into a field beside the highway. The three passengers died on the spot.

The accident is said to have taken place only a few kilometres from the residence of the Punjab Chief Minister. The administration was thrown into a flurry as a result.

According to the information available, the bus had left Sangrur in the morning with passengers for Chandigarh. Near the flyover on the Bathinda-Chandigarh highway, the driver suddenly lost control of the vehicle and the bus went out of control. The speeding bus struck the railing of the bridge and fell into a field adjoining the highway below. The accident was so severe that the bus turned completely over.

Eyewitnesses said the bus was moving at a very high speed. They said the driver was therefore suddenly unable to control the vehicle, and the accident followed.

Passengers cried out immediately after the accident. Seeing the injured passengers in distress, people from nearby rushed to the spot. They informed the police and began relief work themselves. Police and a rescue team reached the spot on being informed. Passengers trapped in the bus were pulled out with great difficulty after the windows and doors were broken. All the injured were then taken at once by ambulance to the Civil Hospital in Sangrur.

Dr Vinod Kumar, Senior Medical Officer at the Sangrur Civil Hospital, said three passengers had been declared dead before treatment could begin. Ten of the injured were in extremely serious condition and were therefore sent immediately to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. The remaining 11 injured are currently being treated at the Sangrur hospital.

Police have sent the three bodies for post-mortem. A detailed investigation into the technical causes of the accident has also begun. A mood of mourning prevails across the area over the accident on the highway.