Bus falls into canal in Lucknow,three drown

The bus belonged to Babu Banarasi Das College of Dental Sciences. It had gone to Sahelia village to bring patients. The accident took place when it was returning to the college.

Eyewitnesses said the driver lost control while trying to avoid a car coming from the opposite direction. The bus plunged into the 14-foot-deep canal,which flows along the road. There is no parapet to separate the narrow road from the canal.

The district police and administration officials rushed to the spot. A crane was pressed into service to pull out the submerged bus. After an hour-long operation,the bus was brought out. “Three bodies were found inside it. The search for the driver is on,” said Assistant Superintendent of Police,Trans-Gomti,Deepika Garg.

The dead were identified as Dr Anil Kumar,Dr Amir Gilani and Narendra,a resident of Barabanki. Kumar was a senior lecturer at the college,while Gilani was an intern.

Inspector Girija Shanker Tripathi of Chinhat police station said Narendra was the bus cleaner but college authorities denied it. “We believe he had taken lift from the bus driver,” said Jung Bahadur,deputy director of security at the college.

Jung Bahadur said a team of doctors from the college visited nearby villages often to examine patients. If necessary,the bus was sent to the village to bring patients to the hospital.

“A team of doctors had gone to bring patients. For some reasons,the patients did not come with them,” he added.