One person was killed while seven others were injured as a private bus belonging to Jujhar Transport rammed into several vehicles and pedestrians near the Ludhiana bus stand on Thursday afternoon after its driver lost control over it.
On its way from Nangal to Ludhiana, the bus hit a motorcycle, e-rickshaw, other vehicles and pedestrians before climbing a footpath in front of Hotel Palm Inn outside the bus stand.
The deceased was identified as Vinod Paswan (50), a resident of Nirmal Nagar, who was standing on the road when he was hit by the bus, said an official. A preliminary police probe suggested break failure as the cause of the accident.
The impact of the collision was so strong that the rear portion of the e-rickshaw was badly mangled while the front parts of the bus and its windshield were shattered. Eyewitnesses said autos were often parked illegally by the roadsides here, creating traffic chaos. The police reached the scene. The bus driver fled the scene after the accident. Both bus and the e-rickshaw were seized with the help of a crane.
Police officials said the injured were shifted to ESI Hospital and Civil Hospital.
An eyewitness, a traffic policeman, Kulwant Singh, who was on duty near the bus stand said the bus was coming from Nangal. When it reached outside the bus stand, it first hit a bike. The bike riders fell on the road due to the impact of the collision and the vehicle was also damaged. Afterwards, the bus hit an e-rickshaw, badly hitting the people standing near it and causing serious injuries. After the collision, the bus driver, Jaswant Singh, fled the scene when the vehicle stopped after climbing the footpath. People tried to catch him but he managed to escape. Some passengers in the bus also suffered minor injuries in the mishap.
A traffic policeman said: “I was standing right in front of the accident scene. After the collision, I ran to the the place. One girl suffered a serious leg injury. A few others suffered head and arm injuries.”
Gurmukh Singh (30) a resident of Sangrur, had come to Ludhiana for some work and was standing on the road when he was hit by the bus. Manjit Kaur, a gym trainer who was accompanying Gurmukh, suffered serious leg injuries. Mahak (22) and her mother Santosh (48) were going from Shimlapuri to Satsang Ghar, Hambran road. They suffered serious injuries. Darshan, a resident of Gill Road, was also hurt. Rajinder Thakur, whose e-rickshaw was hit by the bus, also suffered minor bruises. Another person from Zira was also injured.