People gathered around the spot of the accident.
Credit; X/@ANI
Mumbai: At least a dozen people died while 30-odd others were injured when a bus owned the the State Transport (ST) overturned near Bindravana Tola village on the Gondia-Arjuni road in the Gondia district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra on Friday afternoon.
The bus was on its way from Nagpur to Gondia, reports reaching here said.
Majority of the victims are from the Vidarbha region.
Top officials of Gondia district and police and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation have rushed to the spot.
Caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde spoke to the senior officials and reviewed the situation.
Shinde announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased. “The accident is unfortunate,” he said.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have condoled the death of the people in the accident.
“Deeply anguished to learn about the loss of lives, including many women, in a tragic bus accident in the Gondia district of Maharashtra. I extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Murmu said.
“Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover
soon. The local administration is assisting those affected,” Modi said announcing an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured.
Meanwhile, Gondia Collector Prajit Nair said around 40 people were on the bus. 34 of them were injured. “Eleven people have died. Treatment of others is underway...One of the deceased belonged to Nagpur, another from Chandrapur, a few of them belonged to Bhandara and a few others from Gondia,” he said.
Some of those who are in hospital have sustained severe injuries.
Initial reports said that the driver of the bus lost control resulting in the accident.