15 injured in Jammu school bus accident

Jammu, Dec 20: Fifteen persons, including nine students and five teachers, sustained injuries when a school bus, while returning from an excursion in Samba, met with an accident at Ring Road Jammu on Saturday evening.

As per the reports received, there were no casualties or serious injuries to anyone in the accident.

According to SHO Bishnah, Rakesh Jamwal, the accident occurred when a bus, bearing registration number JK02CB-0246, carrying students from Pargo Memorial School Gurah Manhasa, Pargwal, met with an accident at the Ratnal stretch of Ring Road, Jammu, presumably after the driver lost control of the steering-wheel.

“There was no casualty. Around 15 occupants of the bus sustained injuries. They were rushed to the nearby health facility at Sub-district Hospital (SDH) Bishnah for first aid. Later, injured were shifted to Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu. There were no serious injuries,” SHO Jamwal said.

According to him, following the accident, the driver escaped from the spot.

The bus, carrying students and teachers, was returning from an excursion at “Veer Bhumi” park in Samba.

The injured included Saveeta Manhas, 35, wife of Arjun Singh, resident of Sajwal Akhnoor;Bandna Kumari, 22, daughter of Tarseem Singh, resident of Meerpur Pargwal; Saroj Devi, 34, wife of Balwinder Singh, resident of Pargwal – all teachers; Naksh Thakur (student), 10, son of Tarseem Singh, resident of Pargwal; Neeraj Singh, (cook), 52, son of Baldev Singh, resident of Takwal, Pargwal; Mavisksha Rajput (student), 6, daughter of Arjun Singh, resident of Gurha Manhasa, Pargwal; Paras Rajput (student), 9, son of Sohan Singh, resident of Pargwal; Abhay Kumar (student), 15,  son of Pritam Chand, resident of Pindi Pargwal; Dhanvir Singh (student), 11, son of Parshotam Singh, resident of Pargwal; Sneha Manhas (teacher), 25, daughter of Tarsem Singh, resident of Pargwal; Jeewan Manhas (student), 16, son of Veer Bahadur Singh, resident of Pargwal; Manvi Sharma (student), 16, daughter of Joginder Kumar, resident of Pargwal; Lakshmi Verma (student), 16, daughter of Raj Kumar, resident of Pargwal, Mandeep Singh (student), 17 and Sohan Singh (teacher), 35, Sham Singh, resident of Pargwal.

GMC Jammu Principal Dr Ashutosh Gupta stated that all the injured were stable. “All senior medical teams from surgery, ortho, paediatrics, and critical care are present and are taking care of the injured,” he said.

From December 22, the phase-wise winter vacation, as announced by the Directorate of School Education Jammu (DSEJ), will commence in the government educational institutions and recognised private schools up to the higher secondary levels of the summer zone in the Jammu division.