10-yo among three killed as bus overturns in Jhabua

Indore: Three people, including a 10-year-old boy, died after a sleeper coach bus overturned near Patharpada village on State Highway 18 in Petlawad of Jhabua, at around 2 AM on Sunday night."The bus belongs to Hans Travels and was travelling from Indore to Rajkot, and it reportedly overturned after its axle broke," Jhabua SP Padmavilochan Shukla said. He said that three passengers — Mohammad Arif (45), his wife Farzana Arif (42), residents of Ahmedabad, and Aman Yadav, 10, a native of Seoni — were killed in the accident.The bus was carrying over 30 passengers, of whom over 15 sustained injuries. They were immediately rushed to Petlawad Hospital with the help of 108 ambulances, where they are currently receiving treatment. The remaining passengers are reported to be safe."The patients undergoing treatment are stated to be out of danger," the SP said.Upon receiving information, Petlawad police station in-charge Dinesh Sharma and Sarangi outpost in-charge Deepak Devre reached the spot with their team. With the assistance of two earth-moving machines, a crane and local villagers, the bus was lifted, and the bodies of the three were recovered.Their bodies were sent to the hospital for postmortem examination. The bus driver, identified as Jitendra Patel, a resident of Indore, fled the scene after the accident. A case was registered and the search for the driver is underway, said Shukla. s