At least 4 dead, 30 injured as Puri-bound bus from UP falls on its side

At least four persons were killed and 30 others injured when a tourist bus from Uttar Pradesh fell on its side in Odisha's Balasore district, police said on Saturday.

The accident took place when the bus on its way to Puri skidded off the road and fell on its side in paddy field near Mahamadnagar Patna on national highway-60 on Friday midnight, the police said.

The injured have been admitted to G K Bhattar hospital at Jaleswar and 17 seriously injured were shifted to Balasore district headquarters hospital, the police said.

The Inspector-in-charge of Jaleswar police station Ranjan Kumar Sethi said the bus carrying about 57 passengers from Sidharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh after visiting Varanasi, Gaya, Ganga Sagar and Kolkata was on its way to Puri when the accident happened.

The police, fire brigade and local villagers rushed to the accident spot and rescued the injured passengers.

According to a fire brigade official who was part of the rescue team, a 14 year-old boy named Tushar Mishra who was a passenger of the bus, managed to pull out seven people from the overturned bus but lost his father Rajesh Kumar Mishra in the accident.

The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, police said, adding that the driver and conductor were absconding from the accident site.

Meanwhile, the Balasore district administration has issued a help desk advisory for the bus accident.

"For inquiries and assistance, please contact the provided numbers. The phone numbers are - G.K.Bhattar Hospital Jaleswar: 9348392334 and 7978230562, District Headquarters Hospital(DHH), Balasore: 7894720599 / 9692077708," an official note said.