KOLKATA: A private bus packed with passengers, mostly returning home post work from Sector V, were injured when the bus, in an attempt to race past another private bus rammed into a metro pillar near Unnayan Bhavan in Salt Lake on Friday evening. Witnesses said the accident happened at around 7.30pm, when the bus of route 215A/1 heading towards Howrah from Sector V was moving at breakneck speed in an attempt to overtake another bus of the same route. “As it crossed Central Park, the bus tried to overtake the other bus from right side but fell into a pothole. The driver lost control and climbed a median divider before ramming into a metro pillar,” said Ajit Ghosh, who was passing by the area at that time. As the bus came to a halt, the driver jumped out of the cabin and ran away leaving passengers, many of whom lying on the floor and others severely injured at the impact inside the bus. Local residents and guards and a medical team from Sabala Mela – organised at Central Park fair ground – helped the passengers come out of the bus and treated them initially, before those with serious injuries were rushed to Bidhannagar sub divisional hospital in auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and police patrol vehicles before ambulances reached the place. “The bus had been racing ever since it crossed Sector V. The moment it crossed Karunamoyee crossing, the bus suddenly picked up speed and began overtaking vehicles from right. We were finding it difficult to stand in the bus. Suddenly there was a jerk and then the bus rammed into something and I lost balance and fell on the floor and received injures on my head,” said Priyanka Jhawar, who works at a Sector V firm. Sweta Das, who lives at Narkeldanga, was among the passengers sitting on the bus and suffered severe injuries on her leg. “At the impact, I almost flew out of the seat and crashed into the iron framework ahead of me. I felt like my leg gave away as I screamed in pain along with all others who were being seated. I could not even come out of the bus by my own and had to be helped out by locals,” she said. A senior officer of Bidhannagar Commissionerate later said a total of 12 passengers suffered noticeable injuries and 9 of them had to be taken to the hospital. Witnesses however said the number was way more. “We have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the driver and are probing the case as in how the accident exactly happened,” said the official.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/scores-injured-after-bus-rams-into-metro-pillar-in-salt-lake/articleshow/74406768.cms
