Panaji : Four labourers were killed and five others critically injured when a private bus rammed into two roadside shanties at an industrial estate in South Goa district, police said on Sunday.
The accident occurred at around 11.30 pm on Saturday at the Verna Industrial Estate when the labourers, engaged in road construction work, were sleeping in the shanties, they said. Deputy Superintendent of Police Santosh Desai said the bus driver, identified as Bharat Govekar, a resident of the nearby Cartolim village, has been taken into custody and is being questioned.
The driver's medical examination confirmed he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, he said. A labourer claimed the bus driver threatened the other labourers present at the site to kill them if they complained to anyone about the incident. The bus carrying staff of a private company hit two shanties where labourers were sleeping, a police official said.
"Four labourers died on the spot, while five were critically injured and admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital," he said. The labourers were employed by a contractor, the police said. A labourer told reporters that the bus rammed into their shanties.
"After the incident, the bus driver threatened to kill us if we complained to anyone. The driver was under the influence of alcohol," claimed Rupender Kumar Mathur, whose uncle Ramesh Mathur and brother Anil Mathur were among the deceased. He also claimed that medical help reached the spot late, because of which there was a delay in taking the victims to the district hospital in Margao.
Rupender Mathur also said he was staying in one of the accident-affected shanties but was saved, as he had come out to attend a phone call. "Three more persons who were out (of the shanties) on mobile phone calls were saved," he said.
Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant condoled the incident and said that the procedure was initiated to charge the bus driver, who was driving in an inebriated state. Action will also be taken against the contractor and sub-contractors who accommodated the labourers dangerously in the huts at the scene, he wrote in a post on 'X'.
"All accused are being charged for causing injuries and death. The government will also blacklist the contractors and subcontractors. No one will be spared," he said.
