Fourteen schoolchildren and four adults — three of them teachers as well as the bus driver — were injured when their bus was hit by an SUV, causing it to overturn and come to a rest on its right side here on Monday morning.
Talaghattapura police said that the school bus of Ved Vignan Mahavidhyapeeth, a school run by the Art of Living Foundation, had picked up children near the Shobha apartments in Nagegowdanapalya and was on its way to the school on Kanakapura Road near Udipalya when it was hit.
Car driver flees
When it reached the Pipeline Road around 8.30 a.m., the SUV, which came from a perpendicular direction, rammed the bus, causing it to topple over, after hitting a pylon.
The shocked children eased themselves out by breaking open the windshield while passersby helped them get to a hospital. The police said that the car driver is absconding.
Bus driver Krishnamurthy said that he saw the SUV “speed” towards his vehicle before ramming it. The car was extensively damaged.
The bus was ferrying 20 students. Of the 14 injured children, Rajat Hegde, a Class 7 student, suffered head injuries.
He underwent surgery and is in the intensive care unit where he is progressing, the police said.
Injured students
The other students are Anshuman (14) Prarthana (12), Kruthi Vasu (6), Niranjani (10), Janish (12), Narain (9), Raniket (9), Niyuma (12), Aditya (13), Sriva (11), Shenaz (12), Ankit (10) and Chandranna (14).
The three teachers, Pramodini (36), Bharathi (35) and Deepa (30), and the bus driver Krishnamurthy (26), suffered light injuries.
The police said that the road is an undulating one and suspected the driver hit the bus as he could not control the speed.
