Two students hurt as auto topples on fence

Two students and a teacher escaped with minor injuries, and 17 other students had a narrow escape when a goods autorickshaw carrying them lost control and fell on the fence in front of a house near Mathikere on Thursday morning.

Yeshwanthpur traffic police said Kushal class 10 student, Soumya class 5 student and teacher Yashodha are the injured.

The accident occurred around 9 am when class 3 to 10 students of St Paul’s English High School in Mohan Kumar Nagar were on their way to Jalahalli to attend a sports meet.

The accused, also the father of one of the students participating in the sports meet, volunteered to ferry the students to the sports meet.

All students, including two teachers, sat inside the goods auto. When it reached JP Park, while negotiating a steep curve, the driver lost control of the vehicle, which fell on its side on the fence of the house.

The driver fled soon after the incident.

Passerby shifted the children to nearby two hospitals, where they were treated as outpatients and were discharged later.

The police seized the rickshaw, and efforts are on to trace the driver.

A senior police officer said the school has three buses. But still, management allowed ferrying the children in a goods auto, which is illegal. It is negligence on part of the school management. A case has been filed against them, and a notice has been issued.

Both, the driver and the school management are booked under IPC Section 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and Section 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way).