Monday, 16 January 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
One woman died and 23 people sustained injuries in a collision between a bus and taxi on Bhowali-Almora National Highway on Sunday. The station house officer (SHO) of Bhowali PS Mehra told The Pioneer that as per the investigation so far, overspeeding by the bus driver appears to be the main cause of the accident. He said that on Sunday, a bus on its way from Haldwani to Almora collided with a taxi coming from the opposite direction. The bus driver lost control after the collision and it overturned on the road leading to injuries to 23 people and death of a woman. The SHO said that the police immediately called the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to rescue passengers of the bus and the taxi. The SDRF team along with local people rescued 23 injured people who were immediately sent to the hospital for treatment besides retrieving a dead body of a 55-year-old Munni Belwal, a Haldwani resident. He said that six passengers sustained serious injuries including two children- a nine years old boy Naman Bisht from Jeolikote, Nainital and 12-year-old Akanksha Yadav from Pantnagar who have been referred to for treatment in Haldwani, The remaining four passengers that sustained serious injuries include a Hyderabad resident Balraj (49), Sanju Karki (42) from Jeolikote in Nainital, Rudrapur resident Pooja Dhami (19) and Bihar resident Vicky Kumar (24), said Mehra. He added that other passengers including the driver and conductor of the bus sustained minor injuries. The SHO said that several officials concerned arrived at the accident site and analysed it and came to the conclusion that overspeeding is the probable cause of the accident. He said the taxi driver coming from the opposite direction did not immediately notice the bus and in an attempt to avoid hitting nearby eateries on the national highway, the bus driver swerved the bus in the other direction, causing it to overturn on the road.
