Bus falls into well in Belgaum, 10 killed

Ten persons were killed and twenty others were injured when a state-owned bus lost control and fell into an open well at Parthanahalli village in Belgaum district’s Athani taluk on Saturday.

Police said the tragedy took place when the speeding Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus hit a boulder lying on the road before losing control and plunging into an open well by the roadside.

The ill-fated bus was carrying about 50 passengers, including children, before it fell into the well located barely a few feet away from the road. Though a few persons managed to come out of the drowning bus through its windows and door and swim to safety, the locals rushed to the spot managed to free save at least 10 passengers of the bus.

The authorities had to deploy a crane and other equipments to extricate the bus from the well, which was about 30 feet deep.

A majority of the twenty persons, who had been admitted to the Government hospital at Athani, had sufferred fractures in their hands and legs. A few had even sufferred head injuries.

According to a survivor, the bus was proceeding at a high speed when the mishap took place. “The bus hit a roadside boulder, flew a few feet in the air and fell into the well nearby. The driver was unable to control the bus after it hit the boulder”, the survivor said.

Most of the survivors said they managed to swim out of the drowning bus due to the presence of doors on both sides of the bus. Unlike most KSRTC buses, the buses plying in rural parts of Belgaum have doors on both sides.

While the conductor of the bus had been killed in the mishap, the driver was rescued and admitted to the hospital for treatment.