Two school-going cousins — identified as Kritika, 8, and Rihan, 7 — died while seven other students suffered injuries when the school van carrying them back home overturned near a village in Jalalabad subdivision of Fazilka district, about 55km from here, on Friday afternoon. The accident occurred when the driver reportedly lost control in his bid to save a biker who’d taken a sharp turn ahead of the van.
The van was carrying 35 students, mostly of them from primary classes, of Sacred Heart Convent School, situated at Khaire Ki village, 2 km from Jalalabad. It had gone barely five kilometres when, near Aamir Khas village on the Ferozepur-Fazilka road, driver Ramesh Chander, 50, lost control, the van overturned and two kids, resident of another village Khairewala nearby, died on the spot. The seven others and the driver got injured and later were admitted to hospitals at Jalalabad and later discharged after due treatment, said Avikesh Gupta, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Jalalabad.
Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who represents Jalalabad segment in the assembly, expressed grief, according to Fazilka deputy commissioner Isha Kalia. “Due compensation as per instructions of the higher authorities would be given to the families of the deceased,” she added.
“Police have been asked to report the cause of the accident; and whoever is found guilty would be taken to task,” she further added.
Bus horror
9 August 2014: 16 children injured as school bus overturns in Kapurthala
1 April 2015: 20 children injured as a private varsity bus hits school van
Jan 22, 2015: Private school bus overturns at Dasuya; seven students injured
Jan 12, 2016 : 3 kids killed, 20 injured as school van falls into drain near Batala
