Bihar: At least 9 dead, 20 injured as speeding Bolero runs over school children

Patna: A speeding SUV crushed to death nine students of a government school in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Saturday and injured 10 others while they were crossing a national highway on their way home. All the victims were aged between 8 and 12 years.

The accident took place around 1.30 pm on National Highway 77 which connects Muzaffarpur to north Bihar and the driver of the SUV fled after abandoning the overturned vehicle near the spot, police said.

The incident triggered a violent protest by parents and other villagers who allegedly beat up some teachers and vandalized Dharampur Government Middle School’s building. The school is located along the highway and many of its students belong to families living in a village across the road.

An eyewitness said the SUV driver lost control of the vehicle in a bid to save a woman who had been hit by a truck minutes before the school kids were crushed to death.

“The truck first hit the woman who was crossing the road. The SUV, which was coming from the opposite direction, rammed into the kids while trying to avoid injuring the woman who was lying on the road,”.a witness said. Muzaffarpur superintendent of police Vivek Kumar said, “A manhunt has been launched for the SUV driver. We are also trying to locate who the owner of the vehicle is.”

Those killed were identified as Shahjahan Khatoon, Safina Khatoon, Nusrat Khatoon, Salman Ansari, Shazia, Nita Kumari, Rachna Kumari, Anisha, and Birju Kumar

Parents blamed the school authorities and district administration for lack of road signs about the presence of a school at the spot.

“Clearly the incident occurred due to the negligence of school authorities and the district administration. No teachers were available when the students were standing outside the school near the road,” said a villager.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for family members of children who were killed.

He also directed administrative officials to “probe the matter and punish all those who are involved in the incident”. “Clearly the incident occurred due to the negligence of school authority and district administration. No teachers were available when young students were standing outside the school near the road,” an eyewitness from Muzaffarpur said.