4 killed, 40 injured as bus overturns near Patiala
Patiala, Jun 30 : Four people were killed and 40 injured, five of them seriously, when a PRTC bus coming from Chandigarh overturned near village Kauli, 15 kilometres from here.
Eyewitnesses said the bus was trying to overtake another bus and driver of the bus lost control over it, and the bus skidded first and then overturned and finally rammed into the roadside tree.
The district police and other officials reached the spot and started rescue work.
An official spokesman said the deceased were identified as Jarnail Singh (65), Mohit Kumar (23), Parveen Kumar (35) and one unidentified person.
He said five people who were seriously injured were referred to PGI Chandigarh and were inditified as Sampuran Kaur (40), Tanveer (20), Santish Kumari (20), Mukesh Kumar (50) and Harpreet Kaur(23). Other injured were admitted to Rajendra Hospital in Patiala here.
This ill-fated bus was badly damaged in the accident and rescuers faced lot of problems while dragging out the injured and dead passengers from it.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal expressed deep shock and sorrow over the tragic accident.
Expressing profound grief and sorrow over this accident, Mr Badal shared his heartfelt sympathies with the members of the bereaved families and prayed to the Almighty to give them courage to bear this irreparable loss in the hour of crisis and grant peace to the departed souls.
Meanwhil, the Chief Minister also announced an ex-Gratia amount of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 25000 to each seriously injured and free treatment to passengers with minor injuries and seriously injured.