Nine people die as bus falls off Odisha bridge

Cuttack: At least nine persons died and nearly 40 got injured after a bus fell off from Mahanadi bridge near Cuttack city in Odisha on Tuesday evening. According to reports, the ill-fated bus ‘Jagannath’ was on the way to Cuttack from Angul district in the evening when the accident took place. The bus had left Talcher, nearly 140 km away from the accident spot, at around 2.45 pm in the afternoon. The bus later fell in the river along with the driver, who was seriously injured. According to eyewitnesses, the driver lost control in trying to avoid hitting a bullock on the bridge and fell into the river after breaking the railing of the bridge, a witness told. The bus bearing registration number OD 35 A 0211 was registered with the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in 2015. Being informed about the mishap, fire personnel and members of National Disaster Response Force were rushed to the spot and engaged in the rescue operations and shifting of the injured passengers. Meanwhile, expressing shock and grief over the incident, chief minister Naveen Patnaik has directed health minister Pratap Jena to visit the accident site and monitor the situation.

The CM also instructed the Cuttack district administration and SCB Medical College and Hospital to provide quick and free treatment to all the injured passengers.

Police Commissioner Satyajit Mohanty, fire services DG B.K. Sharma, Cuttack DCP Akhileshwar Singh, Cuttack collector Arvind Agarwal among other officials, were present at the accident site.

Till reports last came in, 40 injured passengers were rescued. However, the number of casualties was not immediately known.

All the injured passengers were admitted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

The death toll may go up as some of those injured are in a critical condition. According to local eyewitnesses, several people are still lying unconscious.