Bus carrying Bengal migrants overturns in Gola, 3 critical

Ramgarh/Ranchi: Thirty-eight migrants suffered injuries after a bus bound for Bengal from Mumbai carrying 77 people overturned near Kulhi village under Rajrappa police station on Ranchi-Gola Road on Monday. Police with the help of local villagers rescued the migrants. Ramgarh MLA Mamata Devi also rushed to the spot with her supporters to provide food and water to the migrants. The injured were rushed to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) in Ranchi.
The officer in-charge of Rajrappa Police Station, Binod Kumar Murmu, said, “The driver wasn’t familiar with the valley and he lost control over the vehicle while taking a sharp turn.”
Of the total injured, 25 suffered heavy injuries with three being critical till the time of filing this report.
A few local eyewitnesses claimed that the vehicle was overspeeding. An eyewitness said, “Vehicles going to Bengal take this route to reduce travel time and distance as it connects with Bokaro highway. As the driver didn’t know the route well, he lost control while negotiating the steep valley.”
Azim Bittu, a migrant worker who was travelling in the bus, said, “We rented the bus from Mumbai to Kolkata for Rs 3 lakh. We began the journey after taking permission from local authorities. All 77 of us are from West Bengal and were working in Mumbai.”
Rims director D K Singh said they took extra precaution while attending the injured as they were from Mumbai, a red zone. He said, “The Ramgarh administration informed me about the accident at around 3pm on Monday. We soon swung into action”
A fortnight ago, a trailer carrying migrant workers from Jamshedpur to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh had overturned on NH-33 under Ramgarh town police station. In that incident, three migrants died and five others received injuries.