Haryana bus accident: From ‘drunk driver’ to ‘no attendant’, how neglect by school authority lead to incident

A school bus met an accident in Haryana's Mahendragarh that claimed the lives of six children and left at least 20 others injured.

Speculations arose on how the authorities did not take notes which led to such a situation. State Education Minister Seema Trikha, while visiting the injured students in hospitals, issued a show-cause notice to the private school, questioning why it remained open on Thursday, a designated holiday for Eid.

President Droupadi Murmu noted that the “death of schoolchildren was heart-rending". Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was “extremely painful". Here are the reasons why this happened:

Drunk driver

As per a report by PTI, an injured student told reporters that the bus was being driven at a high speed when the driver lost control of the vehicle, resulting in the crash. “The driver appeared to be drunk," he said.

According to Mandeep Singh, a lawyer from Kheri Talwana village, certain villagers and parents took action to halt the bus upon discovering that the driver was drunk. However, the situation took a turn when the principal intervened, instructing them to return the bus key and assuring them that the driver would be substituted the following day.

Also Read: Haryana school bus accident: 'Drunk driver threatened children when...', reveals FIR | Top 10 updates

A Class 12 student filed a First Information Report (FIR) stating that the driver smelled of alcohol, disregarded requests from the children to drive slower, and allegedly even threatened them.

Expired fitness certificate of school bus

Mandeep Singh noted, “The fitness certificate of the vehicle had expired long back and it did not have insurance and other documents also."

Moreover, Transport Minister Aseem Goel said the state government has ordered a probe into the incident. He also directed officials to check the fitness of all school buses. An assistant secretary in the office of the district transport secretary in Mahendragarh was suspended when it was discovered that certain documentation for the bus was missing.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Secretary T V S N Prasad has instructed the civil and police administration to thoroughly inspect the fitness of every school bus in their respective districts within the next 10 days. Additionally, a committee has been established to investigate the factors contributing to the accident.

Also Read: 6 children dead, many injured as school bus with 30 onboard overturns in Haryana's Mahendragarh

In the latest development, in Gurugram, the administration summoned owners of approximately 2,700 buses from around 500 private schools to verify their documents and fitness. An official told PTI that a thorough campaign will take place on April 13 and April 14 to inspect these buses.

On Friday, 45 buses were checked and challans were issued to 16 buses for flouting rules while 11 buses were impounded for not meeting fitness standards, he said.

No attendant

The FIR stated that the school bus lacked a male or female attendant responsible for ensuring the safety of the children. Courts have previously mandated trained attendants of both genders to be present on school buses to oversee the children's safety. This incident concerns the haphazard operations of many private schools, especially those situated in remote areas of the state.

(With inputs from PTI)

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