15 hurt as bus overturns

Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, May 10: At least  fifteen persons were injured, three of them seriously, when a bus over turned on the road near Purmandal, in district Samba today.
Reports said the mishap took place at around 12.30 pm when the bus, bearing registration No. JK02A/3417 was on its way to Purmandal from Jammu. The people on board told that the vehicle was being rashly driven and when it reached near Mandal  village,  just 3 kms short of  its destination (Purmandal), the front tyre of  the vehicle got burst.  With this, the  mini-bus  went out of control on the sloppy road and turned turtle on the road side. About  30-35 passengers were on board the bus.
The people of the area rushed to the spot after coming to know about the accident. The local police also reached there. They shifted the injured persons to Primary  Health Centre, Purmandal in private vehicles. Some of the injured were discharged after providing first-aid at Purmandal hospital. Nine injured persons were later referred to Govt Medical College Hospital, Jammu.
The injured were identified as Auvtar Bibi, Joru Ram, Seema Devi, Tripta Devi, Shardu Devi, Prem Nath, Santosh Devi, Babu Ram, Bodh Raj, Indro Devi, Ratno Devi and Romail Singh, all residents of  Purmandal and adjoining area.
The police said that a case has been registered in this connection and  investigation started. Despite poor condition of  tyres, the vehicle was being driven fast by the driver, who was absconding. It said the condition of three accident victims was serious.  Some of them went home after getting first-aid at local hospital.