East Burdwan, 15 August (H.S.) At least ten passengers were killed and 35 injured in a horrific road accident that took place in East Burdwan district on Independence Day morning. All the injured were immediately taken to Burdwan Medical College Hospital.

According to eyewitnesses, the accident took place at around 7.20 am on Friday in the Nala Ferryghat area of National Highway No. 19 when a speeding private passenger bus coming from Kolkata lost control and collided with a truck parked on roadside.The collision was so severe that the front part of the bus was shattered. The police and relief teams reached the spot and pulled out a total of 45 passengers from the bus, many of whom are said to be in critical condition.

Vishwajeet Kumar, an injured passenger said, We all are from Bihar and the bus was going towards Durgapur. Everyone was sleeping. Suddenly there was a huge jolt and I woke up. I fell in front of the bus and got injured on my head. I could not understand how everything happened.

Additional Superintendent of Police Arka Bandyopadhyay said, This is a very sad incident. All the injured have been immediately rushed to the hospital.

According to Burdwan Medical College Super Tapas Kumar Ghosh, 10 people had died before they could be brought to the hospital. About 25 injured are admitted in the hospital, out of which four to five are in a very critical condition.

The cause of the accident is not clear yet. The speed of the bus is being investigated and CCTV footage of the surrounding area is also being examined.

After the accident, traffic on the national highway was affected for some time. The police have taken the bus and the truck into custody and the cause of the accident is being investigated.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey