Smashing escape for students

As many as 20 students of St Mary’s CGSS School, on Ernakulam Market Road, escaped with minor injuries after a school van and a school bus rammed into each other at the first Goshree bridge on Tuesday.


 The bus carrying the students hit the footpath but did not fall off the bridge.  The students were aged between 11 and 13 years.  Luckily, there were no children in the private van.  The injured were rushed to the Ernakulam General Hospital and the Lourde Hospital.


The incident took place around 4 pm when the bus collided with the van plying for the children of Sree Narayana Higher Secondary School, Ayyappankavu.  In the impact of the collision, the school bus veered onto the footpath for about 50 metres and rammed against the stone railing of the Goshree bridge.


 The driver of the school bus fled the scene. The rescue operations were carried out by the locals who rushed 15 of the students to the Ernakulam General Hospital.


 “The students suffered only minor injuries. But some of them are yet to recover from the trauma,” said Dr Madhu of the General Hospital.


 The driver of the van Venugopal, 51, suffered injuries on the head and was admitted to the Lourde Hospital.  The ayah of the school bus Shina Biju, 31, injured on the ear, is undergoing treatment in the same hospital.  The bus and the van were badly damaged.


 The police who visited the spot have pointed out that overspeed was the cause of the mishap.  “Rash and negligent driving is the cause of the accident.  The inquiry is on,” said Kochi City-West Traffic Circle Inspector M M Stalin