Palghar: 40 injured as bus turns turtle

Police said that as the bus driver was negotiating a sharp turn, a car from the opposite direction sped past the vehicle, leading him to swerve.

Forty passengers were injured after a state transport bus skidded off the road in Palghar district on Wednesday morning. The accident took place at Safale around 8 am when the bus was ferrying passengers from Tembhikhurda village to Safale town.

Police said that as the bus driver was negotiating a sharp turn, a car from the opposite direction sped past the vehicle, leading him to swerve. “Due to the rains, the road had eroded at the edges and the bus skidded off,” said Assistant Inspector, Safale police station, Sunil Jadhav.

He added that the bus then turned turtle. Other motorists alerted the police and the fire brigade and all 90 passengers, the driver and the conductor, were rescued.

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Jadhav said 40 passengers were taken to a hospital in Safale and treated for minor injuries. They were discharged after being administered first-aid.

The police have booked the driver of the bus for rash and negligent driving under the Indian Penal Code and placed him under arrest.

“The driver was speeding unnecessarily while taking the turn. He has put the blame on the oncoming vehicle. But there was no contact made by it as it passed by the bus,” said Jadhav.

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