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Tribune News Service
Zirakpur, July 3
Ten passengers, including three school students, were injured when a canter rammed into an auto-rickshaw they were travelling in on the busy Chandigarh-Ambala highway at Singhpura village near here this afternoon.
The accident occurred at about 2.30 pm. The auto was on its way towards Dera Bassi while the canter was following it. Due to the impact of the collision, the auto, with nine passengers on board, fell into a ditch alongside the highway, leaving all passengers and its driver injured, eyewitnesses said.
Vehicular traffic on the busy highway was also disrupted for some time.
Hearing a loud thud, motorists and passersby assembled at the site and rescued the injured from the damaged vehicles. Subsequently, an ambulance of the highway patrol stationed just 100 yards ahead of the spot was informed.
Head constables Inderjit Singh and Ramesh Kumar, on dury in the ambulance, rushed the injured to the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi.
Apart from the auto driver, Deep Chand, a resident of Singhpura village, the other injured were identified as Varunpreet Singh, a resident of Bhankharpur village, Rohit and Akash, both of Trivedi Camp, Baldev, Hari Om, Kaka Singh, Reena Devi, Naib Kaur and Monika.
Class XI students of Shishu Niketan School, Chandigarh, Varunpreet Singh and Rohit were travelling with Akash, a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 15, were on their way home when the mishap occurred, said ASI Tilak Raj, the investigating officer.
After being given first aid at the hospital, six were referred to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, the IO said, where their condition was stated to be stable.
The police have rounded up the canter driver, Pritam Singh, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, who way on his way to Gurgaon from Zirakpur. In his statement, the canter driver said the auto driver suddenly applied brakes, which lead to the collision.
The police have impounded the vehicles involved in the accident, but no case has been registered as yet. The IO said an FIR would be registered only after the injured got their statements recorded.
Overloaded autos
The accident involving an auto with nine passengers on board has once again exposed the plying of overloaded autos on the busy highway in violation of the traffic rules.
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