In one of the worst road disasters in Gujarat, 41 children and three adults drowned in the Narmada main canal here when a state transport bus broke the side-railings of a bridge and plunged into the canal 60 feet below at 6.15 am on Wednesday morning.

The accident, involving victims who were headed for school to take their penultimate annual exams, took place about 60 kilometres from Vadodara. The driver reportedly lost control when the axle of the bus broke while passing by a stationery truck parked on the bridge over the Narmada canal, the lifeline of Gujarat, which had more than five metres deep water flowing in full force.

Thirty-two of the deceased were young girls. They hailed from surrounding villages like Bamroli, Samdhi, Suryaghoda and Patna villages, and were students of class VIII and IX at Bhagwati high school, Navjivan high school and Sirolawala high school.

Four children, including a girl, miraculously escaped as they managed to wriggleout of a smashed window-pane of the submerged bus and swam ashore.

The Gujarat RoadState Transport Corporation (GSRTC) bus, plying on the Waghbod-Bodeli route, had run eight lakh kilometers and was due for retirement after 11 years in service.

"I was reading a book when there was a loud thud and the bus fell into the canal. I could hear my friends crying as we went under water but I managed to escape as I was near a window," said Sunil Baria (14), a survivor. Sunil was helped by a rescuer who threw a rope at him.

Another survivor, Mamta Baria (14), who swam to the bank, was crying till several hours after the accident, regretting that she could not save her friends.

Published & Courtesy : timesofindia.indiatimes.com