The accident took place at around 9:30 am on NH 60. The students were heading towards Bhadutala High School, 140 kilometers away from Kolkata, from Midnapore town in an auto-rickshaw.
About 8 kilometres from the school, the tyre of a truck burst, leading to loss of control and it crashed into the auto-rickshaw. Four students, critically injured, were rushed to Kolkata. Others have been admitted to a hospital in Midnapore.
Locals complained that accidents in that stretch of road were frequent. Blaming the police for inaction, a mob chased the senior inspector from the local police station, threw him on the road before assaulting. A huge police force was rushed in to control the situation.
Drivers of both the truck and the auto-rickshaw are missing.
This is not the first instance of locals attacking police.
In March, angry locals including youngsters in school uniforms went on a rampage in West Bengal's Murshidabad after a road accident. The mob also chased the police personnel, who rushed to control the situation, injuring several.
In January, a mob in South 24 Parganas district near Kolkata vandalised a private car and tried to set it on fire after it rammed five students, killing three of them and leaving two others severely injured. Police, who rushed to the spot to control the situation, were attacked with bricks leaving several injured.
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