4 HMT buses collide, 26 injured

While most passengers suffered minor injuries, a few of them were referred to PGI and are said to be critical.

The injured at a hospital on Tuesday. (Photo: I E)

Four buses of Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) Limited, carrying around 250 employees of the company and moving one after the other, met with an accident in Surajpur on Tuesday after the bus in the front stopped suddenly due to a suspected technical snag in the engine. The other three buses then rammed into the bus in front of them.

Of the four buses, one was a mini bus that was moving behind two buses. The Panchkula police, however, is yet to ascertain the reason why the leading bus stopped abruptly.

The accident left 26 passengers injured. The leading bus, enroute to Shahzadpur (Ambala), was being driven by Narinder Kumar. The second bus going to Kharar (Mohali) was being driven by Harjeet Kumar. The third (mini) bus, enroute to Sohana (Mohali), was being driven by Vijay Pal; while the fourth, enroute to Mullanpur (Chandigarh), was being driven by Rajinder Kumar.

According to police, the buses were on their way to drop HMT employees to their homes from the company’s office in Pinjore.

They were going downhill on National Highway-22 when around 5 pm the bus in the front stopped suddenly.

Ambulances took the injured to the General Hospital in Sector 6.

While most passengers suffered minor injuries, a few of them were referred to PGI and are said to be critical.

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One of the injured, Sukhwinder Singh, said, “I was travelling in the mini bus when the accident took place. The hit was so intense that a young boy sitting in front flew out of the bus through a window.”

Describing the series of events, bus driver Vijay Pal said, “I was driving in the third position when the leading bus stopped suddenly. The bus in front rammed into the leading bus, following which I too was unable to avoid the hit.”

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