PATIALA: A 12-year-old girl was killed and three other schoolgirls were injured after a speeding PRTC bus ran over them when they were waiting to cross a road near Mahilan Chowk in Sangrur on Monday.
Soon after the accident, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the deceased girl, Amandeep Kaur, who was a student of Government Senior Secondary Smart School, Sangrur.
The other three girls also studied in a government school. Police said Amandeep died on the spot, while the remaining three were rushed to a government hospital.
While two of the injured girls, cousins Baljinder Kaur and Gurmel Kaur, were discharged from a hospital by the evening, the third injured student, Damanpreet Kaur, had been referred to a bigger institute as she had suffered serious injuries, including fracture in both her legs.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday expressed deep anguish and sorrow over the road accident. He also directed the district administration to provide free treatment to the injured girls. The CM said he was praying for courage to the affected families and peace to the departed soul.
The incident took place at 2.30pm, when the girls were returning home from school. All four, falling in 11-12 age group, hail from Mehal Kalan village. Eyewitnesses said the bus driver was trying save another girl who was crossing the road and swerved the heavy vehicle which then ran over the other four students waiting on the roadside.
Sub-inspector Kewal Singh of Chajli police station, where the case has been registered, said they had have nabbed the bus driver and a case under relevant sections of IPC had been registered against him. “Damanpreet has been referred to the government hospital in Patiala for further treatment. The postmortem of Amandeep will carried out on Tuesday morning, following which the body will be handed over to her family,” he said.
