Bengaluru: At least 30 passengers, most of them women and children, were killed when a speeding private bus in which they were travelling plunged into a canal in Karnataka’s Mandya district on Saturday, officials said.
The bus, which was moving on a road along the VC canal at Kanaganamaradi, 105 km South-West of Bengaluru, swerved and toppled into it, completely submerging the vehicle and killing the victims instantaneously, officials said.
Police said 30 bodies have been recovered and two people were rescued.
Among those killed were eight men, 13 women and nine children, they said.
Preliminary reports suggested that negligence on the part of the driver may have caused the accident, officialssaid.
The fate of the driver and conductor was not known.
Officials have handed over most of the bodies to the family members.
Most of those killed were from nearby Vadesamudra village, locals said.
They said the children were returning home after half day school when the accident took place.
Long wails of grief-stricken kin ofthe victims rent the air as rescue teams fished out the bodies oneafter the other.
The district authorities roped in a crane to lift the bus from the canal.
Police had a difficult time controlling the crowdsas people living nearby thronged the mishap site.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy rushed to the accident spot, cancelling all his official engagements.
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs five lakh each to the kin of those killed.
“The Chief Minister has announced a compensation of Rs fivelakh to the kin of the deceased. Deeply pained by theincident, he has prayed to God to give strength to the familiesof the deceased to help them bear the loss,” the Chief Minister’s office said.
President Ramnath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and state opposition leaderB S Yeddyurappa expressed grief over the loss of lives.
Girish, a carpenter who was rescued, said he survived as he was lucky and knew swimming. He reportedly helped another survivor, Rohit, a school boy.
A case has been registered against the driver, police said. (PTI)
