Bahanaga: A woman was killed, while 30 others, including 10 critical, were injured after a bus carrying pilgrims from West Bengal overturned on the National Highway-16 near Gunuda village under this block in Balasore district early Monday morning.
The deceased woman was identified as Tasqim Fatma (45).
As many as 40 passengers had a close shave with minor injuries in the mishap. The rescued passengers have been provided shelter in a transit camp
The deceased, who had earlier lost her husband, is survived by her 10-year old daughter who is yet to learn about her mother’s death. The little girl has now become orphaned with no one to take care of her.
It was a pathetic scene to see the minor girl searching for her mother in the transit shelter resulted. As no one was willing to break the bad news to the girl, people at the camp were seen consoling her by saying that her mother was in hospital and would return soon after recovery.
The incident has spread a pall of gloom in the area as the pilgrims, who had set off on a journey to visit a shrine after the Eid ul-Fitr, met with the tragic accident. Police have seized the ill-fated vehicle and launched a probe, while sending the body for post-mortem
The incident occurred while the bus from Pilikhana under Golbari police limits near Howrah in West Bengal was transporting around 70 pilgrims to a Muslim shrine in Dhamnagar area of Bhadrak district.
Sources said, the incident occurred around 5. 30 am when the bus was crossing Panapana panchayat. The driver lost control of the wheels and skidded off the road and fell into a creek. Passengers said that the driver lost control of the wheels when he tried to avoid collision with a truck that came from the opposite direction through a wrong diversion on the highway.
Soon after, locals of Panapana panchayat rushed to the spot and rescued the passengers trapped in the bus. They also informed the police about the accident. With the help of locals, the police rescued all the trapped passengers from the vehicle and admitted them to hospitals in Balasore, Soro and Khantapada.
PNN
