22 Children Suffer Burn Injuries as School Bus Catches Fire
In a mishap, at least 22 children suffered burn injuries as their school bus caught fire in Panvel town of Raigad district of Maharashtra, said police.
According to information, the private mini-bus carrying 38 children to CKT High School caught fire at about 6.50 am in Panvel, some 60 km from Mumbai.
Going to school after a gap of 10-day break given because of swine flu, many of the children were entrapped inside the burning bus.
“Preliminary reports indicate that the mini-bus caught fire due to a short-circuit but investigations are on,” said a police official.
Police have detained Hanuman Nalavade, the owner and driver of the mini-bus.
Principal ST Ghadge of the CKT College, which is located on the same campus as the school, said that people from the neighbourhood managed to rescue 16 of the children unharmed.
Two seriously injured children were rushed to Mumbai’s Masina Hospital, while two were taken to the National Burns Institute in Airoli, Navi Mumbai. The other children were treated at various local hospitals and allowed to go home,
CKT School principal NM Jadhav said that the JBSS Trust, which runs the educational institution, would bear the medical expenses of all the children involved in the accident.
The private mini-bus had been contracted by the parents to pick-up and drop the children to and from school daily.
