10 killed in a road accident in Bengal's Burdwan

Kolkata, Aug 15 (IANS) At least 10 persons were killed when a passenger bus rammed into a stationary truck in West Bengal's East Burdwan district on Friday.

At least 35 people were injured in the incident, the police said.

The incident took place around 8 a.m. on the National Highways (NH-19), passing through East Burdwan district.

It is learnt that the passenger bus was coming from Tarakeswar in Hooghly district and was destined for the industrial township of Asansol in West Burdwan district.

The speeding bus rammed into the rear end of a truck parked in the Fagupur area. The impact of the collision was such that the frontal end of the bus was crumpled.

The police suspect that the driver of the bus probably dozed off, which led to the severe collision.

The local people started the initial rescue operations and were later joined by the state Fire Services Department and locals.

The bodies of the ten deceased persons have already been sent for post-mortem examination.

The 35 injured persons are currently under treatment at a local hospital, and the conditions of the majority of them are extremely critical.

"The death count is likely to increase later in the day," said a local police official.

The police are making efforts to identify the injured and the deceased.

Further investigation is on.

The local people have claimed that the menace of trucks standing on the National Highways despite having an adjacent service road was brought to the police administration against them again.

"However, the police administration had not taken any cognisance of the complaint. That's why the accidents at this spot are quite frequent," a resident said.

However, the cops have not commented on such an allegation.

Earlier on Wednesday, a delivery professional died in a road accident in Kolkata's Salt Lake area.

The deceased, identified as Soumen Mandal was waiting for the red light to turn green when a speeding car hit him from behind.

Though the car occupants were rushed to the hospital, Mandal got stuck in the iron railing and was charred after the car exploded.

--IANS

src/svn