12 dead as bus falls off Mahanadi bridge in Odisha’s Cuttack

Cuttack,November 20:

At least twelve people were killed and 35 injured when a bus carrying over 40 passengers fell off bridge over the Mahanadi river in Odisha’s Cuttack Tuesday evening.

Police officials said a passenger bus from colliery town of Talcher was on its way to Cuttack .The driver of the bus lost his control when came across a buffalo on the way  near Jagatpur area resulting the vehicle to smash through the  cement railings and fell 30 feet off the bridge into the riverbed.

Twelve people have died, state director general of police Rajendra Prasad Sharma said.

There was no water where the bus fell, said Cuttack deputy commissioner of police Akhileswar Singh, adding casualties may increase due to the severity of the accident.

The injured were rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

Expressing his deep grief over the deaths, chief minister Naveen Patnaik asked minister Chandra Sarathi Behera to rush to the spot and oversee rescue and relief efforts.

He has announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to next of the kin of the deceased, and free treatment for those injured.

The Union Prtroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed grief over the incident.

Odisha fire services director general BK Sharma said his men and local youth managed to pull out all the passengers from the bus which lay on the riverbed. “Rescue operations were hampered due to lack of light. Besides, it was difficult to approach the site by boat,” he said. Over 40 fire services personnel were pressed in rescue operation. BM