Death toll from bus plunge in central India rises to 54
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, February 21, 2021
The death toll from a bus plunge in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh rose to 54 on Saturday, officials said.
A five-day search operation has been called off with the recovery of the last missing body from the canal the bus plunged into. The accident took place on Tuesday near Patna village in Sidhi district about 493 km east of Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh.
"The body of Arvind Vishwakarma, the last person whose whereabouts were unknown post the mishap, was recovered from a spot in the canal that was 30 km from the accident site," a local media report quoted Sidhi collector Ravindra Kumar Sharma as saying.
Seven people survived the accident as some swam up to the banks on their own and a few were rescued by locals.
Authorities had stopped water to the canal from the nearby Bansagar dam in order to facilitate the rescue efforts.
Officials said the 32-seater vehicle carried 61 passengers at the time of the accident.
The local government has ordered a probe into the accident.
Deadly road accidents often occurred in India due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.
According to federal Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, every day 415 people die in the country due to road accidents.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)