Howrah: At least eight people have been killed in a bus accident in Howrah near Kolkata. The bus, which was apparently speeding, crashed through a barricade and plunged to the railway tracks.
There were 19 passengers on the bus coming from Sankrai to Howrah at around 4 pm. As it sped across the flyover over the Howrah railway tracks, it suddenly veered to the left, crashed through the steel and concrete barricade, and fell 20 metres down on to the rail tracks.
"The bus was trying to overtake and it slipped off the flyover as it was raining. There were a lot of passengers in the bus," said an eyewitness.
"We are taking confirmation from different hospitals nearby. Till now we have been able to trace 19 people who have been rescued and admitted. Seven to eight people are already dead. We are yet to get confirmation but our oficers have visited hospitals and they have confirmed that 8 people have died. We are investigating the matter," said Dilip Mitra, Additional Director General of Police.
The police are not willing to speculate on the cause of the accident.
Train services were temporarily disrupted at Howrah railway station. And at the Howrah general hospital, there were chaotic scenes as relatives trickled in.
"My brother, sister, and brother-in-law were on the bus. When we heard about the accident on television, we called him on his mobile. The hospital authorities picked up and told us that he was at the Howrah hospital. There is still no news of my sister and brother-in-law," said Ajay Chowdhry, a Howrah resident.
There are at least two women among the dead. Investigations are on into the cause of the accident. However, Kolkata has not seen an accident like this in a long time.