KOLKATA: At least 36 people were killed in eastern India’s West Bengal state early Monday after a speeding passenger bus swerved off a bridge and plunged into a river, police said.
Initial investigations and eye witness accounts said the bus driver, who also died in the accident, lost control while trying to overtake another vehicle on the bridge.
The bus crashed into the bridge’s side railing before plummeting 12 meters (40 feet) into the local Bhairav river.
“Rescuers have retrieved 36 bodies so far. Nine passengers have been hospitalized,” state’s transport minister Subhendu Adhikari told AFP.
Rescue workers believe that there were more than 50 passengers on the bus at the time of the accident.
The rescue work at the accident site in Murshidabad district, around 187 miles (300 kilometers) from the state capital Kolkata, was ongoing late Monday evening.
“We fear that some of the passengers were swept away as glass windows of the vehicle broke (on impact),” Adhikari said.
The victims include at-least nine women and four children.
The bus lay submerged on the riverbed till emergency workers dragged it to a riverbank.
The rescue workers then used steel cutters to cut open the mangled vehicle and retrieve victims’ bodies.
At least 32 people were killed in another road accident after a bus plunged into a river in western Rajasthan state this December.
India has some of the world’s deadliest roads.
More than 150,000 people are killed each year with most accidents blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
At least 36 dead as bus plunges off bridge in eastern India
At least 36 dead as bus plunges off bridge in eastern India
Grand jury declines to indict man in shooting that killed teen at Kentucky State University
- After the grand jury decision, Kentucky State officials said they “will cooperate with law enforcement and investigators as appropriate” and are focused on student safety and well-being
FRANKFORT, Kentucky: A grand jury has declined to indict the father of two Kentucky State University students who was charged with murder in an on-campus shooting that killed one student and critically injured another.
In a social media post after the Tuesday hearing, defense attorney Scott Danks said grand jurors decided not to indict his client, Jacob Lee Bard, for the Dec. 9 shooting and he is out of jail. Bard’s attorneys have said that 20 to 30 people had gathered to attack his son and family, and that he was justified in shooting two people who were beating his son.
After the grand jury decision, Kentucky State officials said they “will cooperate with law enforcement and investigators as appropriate” and are focused on student safety and well-being.
Bard’s attorneys say the family was moving their younger son out, with two armed campus police officers present, after withdrawing both sons from school because of “multiple armed, violent” incidents against them and other students in the days leading up to Dec. 9, some captured on security cameras.
When the family and an officer reached the dormitory entrance on the move-out day, the group of people in masks and hoods rushed out and began violently assaulting the family and others, including beating the son’s head against the pavement, the attorneys said.
In October, the younger son reported a burglary in his dorm room to campus police and received threats of violence afterward, the attorneys said.
Because of continued death threats, the sons are now staying in an undisclosed location, the attorneys added.
“Jacob’s actions were absolutely justified under the law, and were the only measure that prevented his son’s death or serious injury,” the attorneys wrote.
Investigators have said the shooting was isolated, but they have not publicly shared details of the circumstances or a possible motive. The shooting killed 19-year-old De’Jon Fox of Indianapolis.
In a message to the campus community, Kentucky State said the grand jury decision “does not lessen the pain our community continues to feel, nor does it change our priorities.”
“Our commitment remains centered on supporting our students and ensuring Kentucky State University is a safe place to learn, live, and work,” it said.
The shooting was the second in four months near the residence hall. Someone fired multiple shots from a vehicle on Aug. 17, striking two people who the university said weren’t students. Frankfort police said one victim was treated for minor injuries and the second sustained serious injuries. The dorm and at least one vehicle were damaged by gunfire.
Police have said Bard, 48, is from Evansville, Indiana, which is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of Frankfort.
Kentucky State is a public historically Black university with about 2,200 students. Lawmakers authorized the school’s creation in 1886.
