24 injured as private bus turns turtle

A private bus carrying garment workers overturned on National Highway 7—Bangalore-Hosur Road—opposite Narayana Hrudayalaya on Saturday evening injuring nearly 24 people, most of them women.

Police sources say the private bus (KA 51 B 1278), attached to Sai Garments at Bommanahalli, used to ferry workers of the factory daily from the border to­wns of Tamil Na­du­—Denkanakote, Rayaghatta and Odenahalli—to the City, and back. On Saturday , the bus was on a similar trip to drop 52 workers after their day’s work when the central axle of the bus gave way. The driver lost control of the vehicle. The bus hit the road’s central median and turned turtle, falling over to the right side towards the service road. The driver immediately fled the scene.

Residents and other people rushed to the spot and rescued all the 52 workers trapped in the overturned bus.

Twenty-four workers were injured, two of them seriously. They were admitted to nearby private hospitals for treatment.

Two seriously injured were identified as Anita Perumal (19) and Kalaivani (20). The other injured have been identified as Bhuvaneshwari (23), Arathi (18), Ramani (20), Nandini (19), Ammu (18), Sugandhi (18), Kasturi (20), Benniyamma (32), Velli P (44), M Latha (20), J Onnamalai (20), Pachamma P (38), Kavitha (20), Kannamma ( 35), Manju (22), Sujatha (27), Shanthi (35), Banni (18), Timmaraju (34), Satya (21), Latha (37), and Muniratna (36).