At least one person died and 15 others were injured when a chartered bus carrying over 40 passengers fell off a flyover near Mother Dairy on NH-24 on Wednesday evening.

While the police said only the bus driver had died, Deputy Medical Superintendent of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital Dr Amita Saxena said two persons were declared dead on arrival at the hospital. Three of the victims, admitted in another private hospital in Patparganj, are said to be critical.

The police officers suspect a brake failure caused the 15-foot plunge.

A tragedy of even greater magnitude was averted as the bus, after the fall, stopped just short of the Nehru camp resettlement colony below the flyover.

The incident was reported at 7.40 pm. The bus (registration no. DL 1P A 2577) is owned by Choudhary Travels — it ran between Dilshad Garden and Okhla Phase-I.

According to the police, the bus left Okhla at 6.15 pm on Wednesday and was carrying 43 passengers.

“The bus was speeding and was on the extreme left of the four-lane flyover,” said one Shanti Devi, who had come to meet relatives at the colony and was witness to the accident. “A truck suddenly came in front of the bus and I think the brakes failed — it took a sudden left turn, jumped the pavement and fell headfirst down the flyover into the settlement colony.”

But witnesses differ in their accounts.

One Shravan, who also claimed to have seen the accident, said the bus driver suddenly appeared to have stepped on the brakes to swerve to the left to avoid a child who was crossing the road. Yet another witness said the bus’s left tyre had burst, resulting in the accident. A local resident called the PCR, and the police team arrived with two cranes to pull out the bus.

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