NEW DELHI: Four people, including a six-year-old boy, were killed and 11 others injured after a speeding bus collided head-on with two smaller vehicles on National Highway 31 near Bagri Pul in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district on Tuesday evening, officials said.The accident took place around 6:30 pm in the Jhandapur police station area of Naugachia subdivision. According to authorities, the bus struck a small commercial vehicle and an e-rickshaw, leaving multiple passengers trapped and injured.Bhagalpur District Magistrate Nawal Kishor Choudhary told reporters, “In a head-on collision between a bus and two small vehicles, four people were killed and 11 others injured. The deceased include a six-year-old child and a woman.” In a separate statement from the spot, he said, “A head-on collision occurred between a big bus and two small vehicles. Four people have died; two of them have been identified – one of them was from Katihar and another from Khagaria. We are looking for documents in the vehicle but we have not found any. We will hand over the bodies to their families once they are identified…11 people are injured and they have been sent to hospital..,”The deceased have been identified as Arvind Mandal, 40, from Katihar district, Kunal Kumar, 6, from Khagaria district, and Purmi Devi, 35, and her husband Sunil Das, 40, both from Bhagalpur district.Of the 11 injured, eight are undergoing treatment at Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Bhagalpur, while three have been discharged. The district magistrate said all the injured are out of danger. He added that the administration is informing the victims’ families, including those residing outside Bhagalpur, through the concerned officials.Naugachia police district SP Prerna Kumar said, “Prima facie, it appears that two small vehicles were hit by a speeding bus on NH-31 around 6:30 pm.” She added, “We received information of a collision between a private bus and two autorickshaws. We reached there. Looking at the seriousness of the incident, all of us reached here…Prima facie, this looks like a speeding bus hitting the smaller vehicles. 4 people have died. Others have been referred to Bhagalpur for better medical treatment…”Police said an FIR will be registered and the driver and the bus owner will be identified for further legal action.Responding to concerns over frequent accidents on the highway, Choudhary said, “There is a lot of traffic on this road. On my request, the government has approved the proposal to widen it. Work will start on this very soon.” He urged motorists to drive safely.
