Shajapur: Three children, including brother-sister duo, were killed and over 16 other students were injured after a private school van fell into an open well in Shajapur on Friday. The deceased were aged between 5 and 10 years.
The children were heading to home after school got over when the accident occurred. All 16 injured students were rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors described condition of three as critical.
The incident took place at Richoda village, about 15-km from Shajapur district headquarters. The deceased were identified as Divya and Hardik of Lower KG, and Ayush of class I, said sub divisional officer of police Umrao Singh Maravi.
Shajapur SP Pankaj Shrivastava, who rushed to the spot after being informed, said that the vehicle was packed with students. The van fell into a well without boundary wall. He further said that while reversing the van, the driver misjudged the open well in front of the school and drove into it.
The SP said that the driver jumped out of the vehicle before it plunged into the well and escaped. “A manhunt has been launched to nab him,” said the SP and added, “Even school director Ajit Singh too is on the run.”
According to reports, though the well was uncovered , it was fenced with barbed wire. The van broke through it and slipped into the well with children trapped in it.
The SP said that the 25-feet deep well was almost full to the brim. After the incident, villagers claimed that majority of vehicles attached with the school to ferry students violated norms. They also claimed that majority of vehicles were plying without security arrangements like GPS, CCTV, first aid box, fire extinguisher and speed governor. They claimed that the authorities had remained a mute spectator to flouting of norms.
Meanwhile, Friday incident once again brought irregularities to fore.
CM mourned incident: Chief Minister Kamal Nath termed the incident as " unfortunate". "My condolences are with parents of kids who died. The (surviving) kids should be treated till they recover fully....The incident will be investigated thoroughly, the guilty will be punished and dealt with severely," he tweeted.
District collector also announced financial help of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of deceased.
