Pavagada accident: Driver arrested

NT Correspondent

Pavagada police officials on Sunday arrested the driver of the private bus, which overturned near Palavalli Katte, killing six passengers and injuring more than 46, on Saturday.

It was alleged that the driver was speeding and lost control of the bus while negotiating a curve on the road.

As a part of investigation, the local police have procured CCTV footage of the bus from a toll plaza near Buddareddihalli village, which showed more than 40 people seated on top of the bus.

The conductor of the bus also suffered injuries and is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

In his statement to the police, the bus conductor said that there were around 127 passengers in the bus. “I was on the top of the bus with other passengers and the bus was moving slowly. I have no idea how the bus overturned,” he said.

According to eyewitnesses, the passengers, mainly students and people from villages, boarded the bus that day. Many passengers were seen hanging outside the door and to the ladder at the back of the bus, apart from sitting on the roof.

“When the bus overturned, some of the passengers came under the wheels while the others were thrown into a thorny bush along the way,” eyewitnesses said. Hundreds of villagers rushed to the scene and assisted the police in the rescue operations.

The conductor, however, claimed that he requested the passengers not to climb on the roof or hang at the ladder and the door of the bus. “The number of buses was less that day and there were too many passengers. We could not stop them,” he claimed.

As per the sources, more than 40 victims are being treated at hospitals in Tumakuru while seven injured were shifted to NIMHANS and Victoria hospital in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile the police are interrogating the driver and further investigation will follow, police said.