'FORTUNATE ESCAPE': HOW ALERT CLASS X STUDENT SAVED 50 LIVES AFTER DRUNK DRIVER TOOK BUS ON A RIDE

Surat: Fifty students of a private school in the Althan area of Gujarat's Surat narrowly escaped from danger when they discovered the bus driver was drunk and forced him to stop the vehicle after intervention from a class 10 student. Later, the student removed the key upon noticing the vehicle moving erratically on the road because of the driver's drunken state.

Suresh Singh Rajput (56), the driver, began his journey at 11 am to drop the students to their homes. During the seven-kilometre stretch between Althan and Magdalla, the bus narrowly avoided accidents on at least four occasions due to reckless driving. The reckless driving caused injuries to two students, while others began screaming, The Times of India said in a report. The students on the bus ranged from Class 1 to Class 12.

Meanwhile, the school and bus contractors ensured that they carefully screen drivers to ensure that those prone to reckless and negligent behaviour are not allowed to take over their vehicles, the report said.

An official from the school told the media outlet, “This is an unfortunate incident. We have given notice to the contractor who runs the buses for our school. We have called students and parents meeting on Tuesday to know what exactly has happened. We assure the parents such incidents will not be repeated. We are dealing with the situation with an iron hand.”

The bus contractor told TOI, “We conduct regular breath analyser tests of drivers before they board the bus. However, on Monday as the school timing was changed to 11am due to heat, we had to rush the buses and couldn't conduct the test…We will now install cameras inside buses to avoid such incidents.”

Althan police inspector N K Damor stated that the driver has been booked, the bus seized, and he has been charged under sections of the Motor Vehicle Act.

In a similar incident that took place this month, six children were killed and around 20 injured after a school bus overturned in Haryana’s Mahendragarh. The school also received a show-cause notice since it was opened despite a public holiday on Thursday on account of Eid. The police arrested the school's principal, the bus driver and another school official in connection with the case.

2024-04-30T05:24:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd