Telangana bus mishap: Driver was awarded last month

Relatives wait to receive bodies of passengers at a hospital in Jagtial, Telangana. Pic/PTI

The driver of the bus that plunged into a ravine in Telangana killing 57 people was conferred the best driver award by the government only last month, officials said on Wednesday even as the death toll from the accident rose to 58 with a woman succumbing to injuries.

The overcrowded state-run bus had swerved off the road and hurtled down a hillside into a gorge on Tuesday, killing 57 people and injuring 28 others in one of the worst highway tragedies in recent memory.

The accident involving the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus occurred on the ghat section of the road near Shanivarapet village some 200 km from state capital Hyderabad.

In another incident last week, at least 28 school children were injured when their school bus turned turtle in Rajasthan's Dausa district on Saturday, police said.

The children belonged to the Krishna Public School and the incident took place around 7 a.m. in Saray village, when the bus took a sharp turn to avoid hitting a biker.

Aged between five and 15, the frightened children started screaming as their school bus tilted and then turned turtle.

A police team rescued the children after much difficulty, Sub-Inspector Ram Singh from Bandikui police station said.

The injured were rushed to the Dausa hospital. While one student has sustained serious injuries, at least eight others have grave wounds but are reported to be out of danger. The rest have been discharged from the hospital, he added.

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