Silvester D'Souza / Yahya Hallare
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (RJP)

Kundapur, Dec 18: A school bus fetching children to HMMMS school in Byndoor from Bhatkal toppled off the road at Othinene near Byndoor injuring several children.

Three children have been seriously injured and 27 children have sustained minor injuries.

Khalika Vidat, Shahrukh and Afaan are the seriously injured children. They have been taken to KMC hospital in Manipal. Other children with the minor injuries have been admitted to Chinmayi hospital in Kundapur.

The children with minor injuries are: Anith,Rahil,Abdul Ramid, Mamdu Rahman, Nijav Tasleem, Ismail Azim,Shabib, Sradhdha, Riha, Mujahit, Mushtaq Ahmed, Hinkar Mustaf, Ilva, Yathishama, Anam, Nihal, Rabi, Altahmish, Mohammed Rohan, Shafi Mohammed, Mohammed Shafiyan, Afin Begam, Fahi Alam, Mohammed Shahir, Vardha, Nura and Nujifa.

The accident happened at 8.30 in the morning, minutes before the school opened on Thursday, December 18, 2014.

Sources said that the bus was overloaded, and there were nearly 40-60 children. The driver of the school bus who lost control,  hit a cement wall on the left side of the road. When the bus toppled, he escaped from the spot.

The locals helped in rescuing the children from the bus and called for the ambulance service. The cries of the parents seeing the misery was unexplainable.

The exact cause of the accident is not yet known. Assistant commisioner Charulatha Somal, Tahasildar Gayathri Nayak and host of officials have visited the place of the accident.

As per the primary reports, the accident would have been fatal if the bus had crossed a distance of further 2 feet from where it finally stopped. It would have plunged into the valley of 50 feet depth otherwise and the causalities would have been severe.

Police are investigating the case.