At least 19 people were killed and 25 injured when a private bus fell off a bridge in Angul district of Odisha on Friday morning.
The accident occurred in Manitri, 40 km from Athamallik.
Government officials and college students regularly take this bus since it reaches Athamallik, a major town in the region, at 10.30 a.m., leaving Boudh early in the morning. Four of the dead were college students.
Injured passengers said the driver, while trying to avoid hitting a cyclist, rammed the barricade of the bridge and plunged into a dry patch. Ten passengers died instantaneously. The injured were rushed to the Athamallik government hospital, which was not equipped to handle critical cases. Many injured were shifted to the district headquarters hospital at Angul.
Five victims were air-lifted from the site to SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack.
Angul Superintendent of Police Kavita Jalan told The Hindu : “The death toll may go up as the condition of those being treated is critical.” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced Rs. 2 lakh apiece in compensation for the families of the deceased.
