Bus driver on phone, 19 killed

The injured being taken to SCB medical college and hospital in Cuttack after being airlifted from the accident site and the overturned bus at Deulajhari in Angul district on Friday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das and Telegraph picture

TT, Angul/Bhubaneswar Sept. 9: A driver allegedly talking on the phone with his bus zipping at 90kmph led to the death of at least 19 persons as the vehicle skidded off a bridge and fell into the dry bed of a nullah 50ft below at Deulajhari near Athmallick town in Angul district this morning.

The bus with 60 passengers veered off the road when the driver suddenly spotted a bicyclist coming from the opposite direction and tried to save him.

Talks of the driver speaking on the phone while driving, a not so unfamiliar sight in the country and reason for several road mishaps, reverberated at the hospitals where the injured were being treated.

Padmacharan, 37, from Angul almost fainted when he saw his relatives, Rajalaxmi, 21, and Shivani Pradhan, 17, lying in the hospital.

Having suffered critical injuries, both had been airlifted to the hospital.

"They are my sisters. It breaks my heart to see them in this condition. We are told that the driver was talking over his mobile phone and lost control. This is inexcusable," said Padmacharan.

While 16 persons, including four women, were killed on the spot, three others died at Angul district hospital. At least 54 persons also suffered injuries in the accident that took place at 9.30am.

In an unprecedented move, the state government had pressed two air ambulances into service to ferry the injured to hospitals in Angul town and Cuttack, which is 185km from the accident spot. Twenty-four of them are said to be critical.

Eyewitnesses said the bus coming from Boudh to Athmallick skidded off the bridge, which is barely 7km from Athmallick town. The driver, Biren Nayak, 48, who was reportedly speaking on the phone while driving, suddenly noticed a young boy coming from the opposite direction on a bicycle.

"To save the kid, the driver took a sharp left turn and skidded off the bridge with the vehicle smashing the railings and plunging 50ft below into the dry nullah," said an eyewitness.

The driver is battling for his life in the hospital. The blue bus, named Maharaja, plies daily between Boudh and Athmallick, a distance of nearly 70km.

The state administration, which had got a bad name for its failure to provide a mortuary van to 48-year-old Daana Majhi of Kalahandi, today pulled all stops to carry out the rescue operation. While director general of police K.B. Singh flew to Athmallick, two choppers were pressed into service to ferry the injured to hospitals.

Five critically injured persons were airlifted to Cuttack.

The scene at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, where some of the critically injured passengers are under treatment, was traumatic.

Sushmita Dehury, 45, who was at the hospital to see her injured sister, Sabita, 55, said her family was in a state of shock. Sabita was airlifted to Cuttack after preliminary treatment at Angul.

"My sister was coming to Athmallick from Buraghat to meet us. She has suffered multiple injuries and is unable to talk properly," said Sushmita.

The state government has ordered the Angul district collector to probe into the accident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted and conveyed his condolences to the families of the deceased. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik also condoled the deaths and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for families of each of the deceased. The Angul District Red Cross gave Rs 10,000 to the family members of the deceased.

People working in the nearby fields were the first to rush to the accident site after they heard a loud bang as the vehicle fell into the gorge. While they tried their best to rescue the passengers, they also informed police.

Athmallick sub-divisional police officer Gopal Pattnaik, who rushed to the spot, said: "There were around 60 persons in the vehicle. We heard the screams of the passengers trapped inside the bus, which we lifted with the help of a crane. With the help of local people we retrieved the bodies and the injured ones. We first sent them to Athmallick hospital, which is just 5km from the spot."

Health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, who visited the SCB, said: "A dedicated team of doctors has been formed to take care of the injured. The ICU and trauma care units will remain open round the clock. All the necessary tests will be completed tonight. The state will bear all the expenses."