At least 30 teachers, students and guardians of Shaheen School’s Sirajganj branch were injured when a bus carrying them collided head-on with a passenger bus in Baraigram upazila of Natore on Thursday.
The accident occurred around 10am in the Manikpur area of the Bonpara-Hatikumrul highway as the school group was travelling to Safina Park in Rajshahi for an annual picnic.
The collision left the front sections of both buses badly damaged. Traffic on the highway remained halted for about an hour before the vehicles were removed and movement resumed, reports Bangla Tribune.
According to eyewitness Hossain Ali, the school bus was heading towards Rajshahi when it collided head-on with a Dhaka-bound passenger bus in Manikpur. No one was killed, but at least 30 people travelling on the picnic bus were injured.
The injured include Rezaul Karim, 39; Zainal Abedin, 26; Sinha Islam, 7; Sonali Khatun, 25; Barsha Khatun, 20; Taslim Ahmed, 33; Hazrat Ali, 50; Dighi Khatun, 12; Rabbi Hasan, 24; Ashraful Islam, 42; Beauty Begum, 26; Hawa Begum, 30; Monirul Islam, 33; Habiba Khatun, 12; another Rezaul Karim, 45; Kabya Hossain, 12; and Mostafizur Rahman, 46.
Fire Service personnel from Bonpara, highway police and local residents rescued the injured and took them to Baraigram Upazila Health Complex and Amina Hospital in Bonpara for treatment.
Five teachers of Shaheen School alleged that the passenger bus was travelling recklessly at high speed and suddenly rammed into their bus. Some passengers fell from their seats while others were thrown against the windows, causing panic inside the bus.
The driver of the passenger bus fled the scene following the crash, they said.
The school’s picnic programme has been cancelled following the accident. The injured are being taken back to Sirajganj after receiving treatment.
SI Alamgir Hossain of Bonpara Highway Police Station said the two buses involved in the accident had been seized.