12 school children injured as van overturns in Bahraich

Lucknow: At least 12 schoolchildren were injured, 1 of them critically, after a private school van overturned in the forest area of Katarniaghat in Bahraich on Tuesday morning.The accident occurred near the Bichhiya forest barrier when the van, reportedly moving at speed, went out of control and overturned on the roadside. The vehicle belonged to a private school, Bappa Ji School, located in Chafaria, and was ferrying children from Nepal border-adjacent, tribal-dominated villages, including Bardiya, Amba, Vishunapur and Fakirpuri, to the school. The van driver, identified as Aamir Khan, also sustained injuries in the mishap. Local residents and passers-by rushed to the spot immediately after the accident and shifted the injured children and the driver to a nearby private medical practitioner for initial treatment. The injured students were identified as Anuj (Class 9), Surya (Class 8), Adarsh (Class 9), Adarsh (Class 1), Sita (LKG), Riyarth (Nursery), Aryan (Class 1), Reena (Class 11), Sabrin (Class 2), Krish (Nursery) and Akhtar Raza (LKG). Among them, Surya sustained serious injuries and was reported to be in critical condition. The exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, said station house officer Prakash Chandra Sharma.