Jharkhand: Giridih bus mishap toll climbs to 4, hunt for missing driver on

The bus was coming from Ranchi to Giridih when it met with an accident and plunged into the river. As soon as the bus fell, there was chaos in the entire area. Locals along with police rushed to the spot.

Giridih (Jharkhand): The death toll in Saturday's bus accident in Jharkhand's Giridih has climbed to four, a top government official said on Sunday. Earlier, reports confirmed three deaths as the bus which was coming from Ranchi to Giridih plunged into the Barakar river.

As per the inputs received by ETV Bharat, the driver of the bus lost control of the vehicle as it reached the river on the Giridih-Dumri road. As soon as the bus fell, there was chaos in the entire area. Locals along with police are at the spot to rescue any survivors. A crowd of local people gathered to help the survivors.

Nothing has been known about the driver after the incident. The rescue workers are still scouting for the driver. Authorities are seeking information about whether the bus was being driven by the old driver or a new one. Three of the four deceased have been identified. The postmortem of all three was done in the night itself. Those who died in the incident include Santosh Aggarwal, a resident of Atma Karmi Bakshidih, Manik Chand Gupta, a resident of sensor Dhariadih, and Dhania, the driver of the bus. The accident took place around 8.40 pm when the bus fell into the Barakar river while on way to Giridih from Ranchi, Giridih Sub Divisional Police Officer, Anil Kumar said. Officials confirmed three deaths and said several other injured were being treated at the hospital.

Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi, who is from Jharkhand, and Giridih MLA Sudivya Kumar Sonu, DC Naman Priyesh Lakda and SP Deepak Sharma reached the spot. According to the information received, there were more than 30 people on the bus.

"It is a major mishap. As you can see, people and officials are involved in the rescue. The bus crashed into the railings and fell into the river. We have seen them rescuing a few people from the bus. Since it is dark and the bus is submerged, it is a difficult rescue operation," Devi said while speaking to ETV Bharat. Visuals from the spot showed scores of people trying to pull out the trapped passengers.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said the district administration and police are engaged in rescue operations. Soren in a tweet in Hindi said "Sad news has been received that a bus from Ranchi to Giridih met with an accident in the Barakar river in Giridih, Jharkhand. Rescue work is being done by the district administration..."