SURI: Five pedestrians, including a child around three years, who were crossing the road at Birbhum’s Illambazar bus stand were killed when a bus lost control and hit them on Saturday morning. Civic volunteer Pratip Pal was also injured and rushed to a private hospital in Durgapur where he is said to be in a critical condition.
The deceased were identified as — Basanti Das (52), Nitu Das (30), Tripti Saha (28) and a man and the child are yet to be identified.
Police said the bus was returning back to Bolpur from Jaydev’s sankranti mela. When it reached Illambazar, the driver its lost control and hit three parked vehicles along with the pedestrians.
The bus driver and his helper fled the spot.