Seventeen persons were killed and 23 others injured when their bus collided head-on with a truck near Naugaon Navodaya Vidyalaya, about 20 kms from here, today.
The bus was on its way to Chhatarpur from Harpalpur when it dashed with a Naugaon-bound truck loaded with cement around 7 am, police said.
The accident claimed 12 lives on the spot, while four others succumbed to injuries on way to a nearby hospital. One more person later succumbed to injuries in hospital.
Chhattarpur Collector Rajesh Bahuguna and other officials reached the spot soon after the mishap.
Thirteen persons, of whom eight were in serious condition, were admitted to Chhatarpur district hospital, while the remaining are undergoing treatment at Nougaon civil hospital, police said.
The district collector has announced an ex-gratia of Rs one lakh each to the kin of the deceased persons and Rs 10,000 each to those, who sustained minor injuries in the accident.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has expressed grief over the incident and announced Rs 50,000 each to the seriously injured persons.
The deceased have been identified as Prabhu Raikwar, Nasir Ahmed, Devideen Ahirwar, Ramadhar Vajpayee, Ghanshyam Tiwari, Ramesh Chourasia, Manju Raikwar, Rafiq Ahmed, Rupesh Shriwas, Gyandeen Prajapati, Gorishankar, Prabhat Sharma, Ved Prakash Sharma, Rajesh Kumari and Rajkumari.
Two of the bodies are yet to be identified, police said.
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