4 students hurt as van overturns

Four students suffered minor injuries after an ‘overloaded’ private van carrying school students met with an accident near RCM College on the Katraj-Dehu Road bypass on Tuesday afternoon. The injured students — Omkar Linge,8,Yash Shirgaonkar,10,Akansha Bandigire,8,and Umesh Maharudra,8 — were taken to a local hospital and given medical aid.

Police said the LPG-operated Omni van was carrying as many as 17 students to Abhinav English Medium School in Narhe Ambegaon while only 12 students were permissible as per government norms. The van lost its balance while taking a steep road near RCM College around 12.20 pm and fell on its sides after hitting a roadside stone.

The other students escaped unhurt but the incident has left them in fear. School authorities and a Haveli police team rushed to the spot and admitted the injured students to Nawle Hospital.

Abhinav Education Society president Rajiv Jagtap said the van was hired by parents. “It was a private vehicle hired by parents on their own responsibility. The school had taken an undertaking from parents in this regard.”

Senior inspector Sardar Patil of Haveli police said neither parents nor school authorities had lodged any complaint against the van driver. “We have registered a first information report on our own. Van driver Kailash Gadekar will be interrogated,” he added.