Daijiworld Media Network – Ahilyanagar
Ahilyanagar, Jul 4: At least 10 to 15 students were injured, one of them critically, after a school bus carrying around 50 children overturned by the roadside near Kondhwad village in Rahuri taluk of Maharashtra's Ahilyanagar district on Saturday morning.
According to officials, the bus reportedly went out of the driver's control before overturning. There were about 50 students on board at the time of the accident.
Local residents and police personnel rushed to the spot immediately after receiving information about the mishap and launched rescue operations. The injured students were pulled out of the overturned bus and shifted to a nearby private hospital for treatment.
Hospital authorities said one child is in critical condition, while the remaining injured students are undergoing treatment. No fatalities were reported in the accident.
A video from the accident site showed the bus lying overturned beside the road as local residents gathered to assist in the rescue efforts.
Police have launched an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.
The incident comes just three days after an 11-year-old student was killed and four others injured in Mumbai when a peepal tree fell on a school bus during heavy rainfall.
The accident occurred near Road No. 11 while the bus, carrying 13 students of Universal High School, was transporting them home. Emergency personnel, including the Fire Brigade, rescued all the children, with two students trapped inside the bus being safely evacuated.
Five injured students, aged between four and 12 years, were admitted to a nearby private hospital. One of them, 11-year-old Vihan Srivastava, later succumbed to his injuries, while the other four remain in stable condition.
Following the Mumbai incident, Mayor Ritu Tawde ordered a detailed inquiry to determine whether recent road concreting work had affected the stability of the tree and whether any complaints had previously been received from local residents.
The latest accident occurred as heavy rainfall continues to affect Maharashtra. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts for Jul 4 and 5, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy showers. Mumbai has witnessed persistent rainfall over the past week, disrupting normal life across the city.