Haryana school bus accident: Principal, driver arrested; 4-member government-appointed panel to probe crash

Haryana school bus crash: The Haryana Education Department has called for a meeting regarding vehicle safety policy at 3 pm today. Haryana Education Minister Seema Trikha said a showcase notice had been issued to the school as it was open on Eid-Ul-Fitr.

A four-person panel constituted by the government will look into the Thursday school bus accident in Mahendragarh, Haryana, which claimed the lives of six kids and wounded almost twenty more. The bus transporting about 40 students from elementary to secondary courses to the GL Public School crashed into a tree and flipped close to Unhani the village in Kanina, according to police. Regarding the case, a First Information Report has been filed.

The driver, named by the police as Dharmender, reportedly lost control of the car because he was intoxicated and driving carelessly. The bus carried on its voyage despite the worried villagers' attempts to stop it, eventually coming to an accident. In relation to the event, three people—including the principal of the school and another official—have been taken into custody.

The Haryana Education Department has called for a meeting regarding vehicle safety policy at 3 pm today. All District Education Officers, Elementary Education Officers, and Block Education Officers of the state will participate in the meeting from various areas of the state via video conferencing.

Meanwhile, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) chief former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala asked why the school was functioning despite a nationwide holiday on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. He also sought a probe into reports of the driver of the bus being drunk.

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “It’s very unfortunate and sad news. I got the information that the driver was drunk. I can’t understand, where the children were going on Eid? It’s a matter of investigation. I have sympathy towards the families affected.”

Unsettling information concerning the events leading up to the disaster was discovered during the initial investigations. After the crash, study materials, school bags, and shoes were strewn all over the debris. While some kids yelled out in pain, others lay in bloody puddles.