As many as 8 school children, which included 6 boys and 2 girls were killed when their a bus collided with the Maruti Omni van in which they were travelling.
The incident happened at Trasi village, 400 kms from Bengaluru. The van which was carrying a total of 16 children, all aged between 7 and 13, were on their way to the Don Bosco School in Kundapur.
Maruti Omni carrying school childrenThe Omni van which had stopped at an intersection just minutes away from the school was rammed into from behind by a speeding bus. A section of the Omni was completely crushed leaving 8 children dead on the spot while several suffered injuries.
The injured have been removed to the Manipal hospital where one child is critical but the driver and other injured children are said to be out of danger. The private bus driver Manju and conductor Shankar Shetty are arrested.
Maruti Omni carrying school childrenAs per information received from the Gangolli police where the case has been registered, the school van was driven by Martin Olivera while his wife, Philomena, also a school teacher at the Don Bosco School was also travelling in the van. The van was on its way from Hemmady to Don Bosco School on NH66 when it was hit by the speeding bus.
Sources state that the van driver made a sudden turn to the right and hit the bus while heavy rain in the area made things worse even as panicking parents blamed the driver for overcrowding the school van.
First launched in 1984 as Maruti Van, the Omni has been on sale ever since without any major changes. Available at a starting price of just INR 2.61 lakh, the car registers sales of 7,000 to 8,000 units every month. Lacking basic safety features, some of these Maruti vans are bought for the purpose of transporting school children from home to school and back.
via ANI on Twitter
