Haryana bus accident leaves 6 students dead, school principal and 2 others arrested

The driver, who allegedly jumped out of the bus just before it rammed into a tree, has also been taken into custody. Besides the two, the secretary of the school has also been arrested.

A senior police official said the medical test conducted on the driver has confirmed that alcohol was present in his bloodstream.

Fourteen of the students who were hospitalised after the accident have been discharged but three are critical.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths of the schoolchildren and assured of all possible help by the state government to the victims' families.

In a post on X, he wrote: "The bus accident in Haryana's Mahendragarh is extremely painful. My condolences are with all the families who have lost their children in the accident. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured children. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in providing all possible help to the victims and their families."

About 35 students belonging to Class IV to X were heading to the GL Public School on Thursday when the bus carrying them rammed a tree and overturned.

The bus belonged to the school and documents showed that the bus' fitness certificate had expired six years ago, in 2018. A state road transport official has been suspended in connection with the case.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Mahendra Rana said: "A case has been registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and others.

"Sections of the Motor Vehicle Act have also been applied as the fitness certificate was not valid. The driver, Dharmendra, the principal, Dipti, and a staff member, Hoshiyar Singh, who was a secretary and looked after the buses and other such matters, have been arrested."

State Education Minister Seema Trikha said an inquiry is also being conducted to establish why the school was opened on Eid, which is a public holiday across India.

"The school should not have been open today. A show-cause notice has been issued and, apart from that, we have taken self-affidavits from private schools. The schools will have to provide an affidavit stating that transport vehicles used by them are following the transport rules," she said.