1 killed as bus collides with oil tanker in West S’bhum

Jamshedpur: One person died and over a dozen injured when a long-distance passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker in Noamundi police station area in West Singhbhum district on Monday. The incident occurred near a petrol pump around noon.
The bus was ferrying passengers to Tatanagar from Barbil when the accident occurred. The bus was on way to Chaibasa, while the fuel tanker carrying diesel was coming from the opposite direction.
The head-on collision caused severe damage to the front portion of the bus, said Kiriburu SDPO, Ajit Kumar Kujur.
“Bus driver, Cina Pan (40), died, while the injured are undergoing treatment at Tata Steel-run hospital in Noamundi. Some were discharged from the hospital after first aid,” he said, adding that four ambulances were pressed to transport the injured to the hospital.
A fire extinguisher was also stationed at the site till the fuel tanker was safely removed from there to prevent arson.
The SDPO said that preliminary investigation suggests that the bus driver lost control while trying to save a cattle due to which the accident occurred. “None of the drivers of the two vehicles were in inebriated condition,” he said.