At least 30 students were injured, three of them critically, when a school bus fell into a ditch in the Lakkhipur area of English Bazar town in Malda district on Saturday afternoon, police said. The bus carrying 71 students of Kendriya Vidyalaya skidded of the road before falling into the ditch on the Malda-Manikchak state highway soon after it came out of the school campus and was trying to enter the main road around 2.30pm. The students of classes 5 to 10 were returning home. Following the accident, local residents rushed to the spot to rescue the injured students. Later, the fire brigade and traffic police joined the rescue operations. Out of the 30 injured, 13 students were admitted to the Malda Medical College and Hospital. The bus driver and helper did not receive injuries, it is learnt. “The condition of the injured students, including two with head injuries, is stable. We have started an investigation into the matter and a case will be filed,” said Malda Superintendent of Police (SP) Pradeep Kumar Yadav. Debabrata Das, a school teacher, said, “The bus belongs to the railways. Children of railway officers were aboard this bus. So far, no complaint has come against the bus driver.” — With PTI inputs
