Maharashtra state transport bus falls into Narmada river; 13 dead

There were reportedly around 50 passengers in the bus, which broke through the barrier and fell around 100ft. The bus was completely submerged in the river. Rescue operations are on with a state disaster response force team coordinating with local fishermen.

At least 13 people have been killed and 15 rescued when a Maharashtra government bus plunged into the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. The bus, headed from Indore to Pune, skidded off the road at the Sanjay Setu bridge in the Khalghat area of Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district and fell into the river.

There were reportedly around 50 passengers in the bus, which broke through the barrier and fell around 100ft. The bus was completely submerged in the river.

Rescue operations are on with a state disaster response force team coordinating with local fishermen. Senior district officials and police officials are coordinating the operation. The injured have been admitted to the district hospital. Heavy machinery was deployed to drag the bus out of the water. 

Expressing grief over the incident, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that the Maharashtra roadways bus reportedly suffered brake failure or steering failure. He has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been coordinating with the SDRF and district officials. He has directed that all necessary arrangements be made at the site.

A Maharashtra RTO official said that the fitness certificate of the 10-year-old bus was about to expire on July 27. Its insurance document and Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate were valid.

MSRTC officials identified the bus driver as Chandrakant Eknath Patil and the conductor as Prakash Shravan Chaudhary. The state transport authority has also set up a helpline for citizens -- 022-23023940 -- so that people could get information about the accident and their relatives travelling on the bus.

The six other deceased have been identified as Jagannath Hemraj Joshi (70) from Udaipur in Rajasthan, Chetan Ramgopal Jangid from Jaipur in Rajasthan, Kamalabai Nibaji Patil (55), Nibaji Ananda Patil (60) -- both from Amalner in Jalgaon -- Saifuddin Abbas Nurani from Indore in MP and Aarva Murtuja Bora (27) from Akola in Maharashtra. 

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