School van falls in ditch, 9 kids injured, 1 critical

RAIPUR: Nine school children were injured when their school van fell 20-feet in a ditch in Raigarh district on Wednesday.
One girl student is said to be in a critical condition and was referred to district hospital. According to Raigarh SP Deepak Jha, a private school van at Bardula village in Sarangarh was carrying 12 children from school to home.After travelling one kilometre from school, the van driver lost control of the steering and fell into a ditch of an under-construction bridge. The children were taken to the nearest primary health care centre and three of them were discharged after primary treatment.
Condition of a 4-year-old girl is said to be critical and she is admitted at Raigarh hospital. The driver fled after the accident, but was arrested late evening. Sources said that the school van driver was on leave and another worker was tasked to drive the van in place of him. He allegedly sat more children in the van than its carrying capacity. Police are yet to ascertain under what circumstances the accident took place, and further investigation is on.
While parents have alleged that it was carelessness on school management's part, no one from the school could be contacted after repeated attempts. In another incident, a school bus collided with an autorikshaw in Koriya district on Wednesday afternoon. The bus was carrying children back home from school. The auto suddenly came in its way and the bus stopped with a jerk. There were no injuries and the auto-driver was arrested for careless driving.