The Hindu : Front Page : Seven children among 11 dead as bus falls into Gurupur river

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Friday, Aug 15, 2008
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Seven children among 11 dead as bus falls into Gurupur river

Govind D. Belgaumkar

Many missing, confusion over the exact number of passengers in vehicle

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

Herculean Effort: Fire Services and Coast Guard personnel, local people and fisherman searching for bodies in the river at Ulaibettu, near Mangalore, on Thursday.

MANGALORE: Seven children aged under 10 were part of a tragic toll of 11 persons confirmed dead when a school bus careened off a rain-sodden road and plunged into the swollen Gurupur river at Ulaibettu near Kaikamba on the Mangalore-Moodbidri Road on Thursday.

More than 10 children were rescued, but many are still missing and a search is on for the bodies. It is not clear yet how many children were in the bus, which was transporting them to Balmy School in Kaikamba. The list of the dead persons furnished by the police control room and Government Wenlock Hospital did not tally.

Fatal mistake

Eyewitnesses said the school bus — allegedly overloaded — swerved to the extreme right of the road to avoid a pothole. The driver is believed to have mistaken the riverside for a flooded road and proceeded over it.

Within seconds, most of the bus disappeared under the turbid waters to the horrified screams of those trapped in it. The first people to rush to the rescue were those in an autorickshaw a little ahead of the bus and some youngsters who were passing by. There are hardly any houses in the vicinity but mobile phones and the coin-box telephone at a nearby shop were a godsend to summon help.

Eyewitnesses said that within minutes about 15 boys had jumped into the river to rescue those trapped in the bus. However, for many it was too late.

“Several children were washed away as the front windscreen of the partly submerged vehicle gave way,” said Ahmed, who was among the first to reach the spot. He said the driver was among those who drowned.

Though teams of professional divers and Fire Services personnel were summoned, they could not locate more bodies.

Deputy Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao, who arrived at the spot, ordered that nets be erected at Dambel to prevent the bodies from being washed away into the Arabian Sea. Bus services to Ulaibettu were suspended on Wednesday as the river was in spate and the road linking the village to the highway inundated.

The school bus too had suspended its trip on Wednesday but resumed the service on Thursday as the water-level had come down.

The driver reportedly obliged students of other schools and villagers for a lift up to the highway.

The dead have been identified as Moosira (6), Suhana (7), Moosir (7), Haneesa (7), Hafeeza (6), Afzal Ismail (10), Sabreena (10), Kamaksha (33), Saramma (40), Ramlat alias Jamila (20) and Badruddin (28), driver of the bus.

Till late in the evening, neither officials nor the public were able to figure out the exact number of those missing, particularly as the driver had died and the attendant could not be found. It was heartrending to see a pile of schoolbags and lunch boxes strewn around in the open field in the pouring rain.

Traffic came to a standstill on the main road and ambulances had a tough time negotiating the crowds and haphazardly parked vehicles.

Compensation

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa announced a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh each to the families of those who died.

“I am shocked and pained (to hear the news),” he said and added that Home Minister V.S. Acharya and Environment and Ecology Minister Krishna Palemar had been asked to supervise rescue operations.

Mourned

Governor Rameshwar Thakur has expressed shock over the tragedy. His condolence message said: “I pray to the Almighty to bestow moral fortitude to the members of the victims’ families in this hour of sorrow.”

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