Jamshedpur: Twelve school students were injured when their school van overturned after hitting a divider on the Telco Stadium – Bhuvaneshwari Temple Road in Jamshedpur on Friday. The driver of the vehicle was also injured in the incident. All the children travelling in the vehicle were students of Vidya Bharati Chinmaya Vidyalaya.Locals and eyewitnesses said the van lost balance and hit the divider before getting overturned. The impact destroyed the front chamber of the van and burst its engine chamber. Hearing the children’s screams, locals rushed to the spot. All the injured were rushed to Tata Motors Hospital. Sources said the said van was carrying 35 students.Mina Wilkhu, principal of Vidya Bharati Chinmaya Vidyalaya, said, “Three out of the injured 12 students were admitted for extended treatment as they had to undergo CT scan. Others were discharged immediately after first aid. The children were of class 2 to 10 comprising boys and girls.”Suresh Prasad, the officer in charge of Telco police station, said a probe is underway to ascertain the cause of the accident.This incident follows a series of recent accidents involving school vans in the city. On Sept 16, a school van collided with an autorickshaw at Sector Market under Telco police station limits. Two women suffered injuries while a schoolboy in the van escaped unhurt.Two students were injured when an autorickshaw transporting children overturned on the Sidhgora-Golmuri Road on Aug 14. East Singh deputy commissioner Rajiv Ranjan recently directed traffic and transport officials to conduct random inspections focusing on vehicle documentation, fitness certificates and curbing overloading and speeding after a rise in such incidents.
