WB: Bus with 50 passengers washed away, 45 rescued

mangaloretoday.com/ CNN-IBN

Kolkata, Sept 6: A bus carrying about 50 passengers has been washed away by the flash floods in Bankura in West Bengal. Reports said that 45 passengers have been rescued and the rest are still missing.

 

The bus was going from Jhargram in West Midnapore district to Durgapur in Burdwan.

Districts of south and central Bengal have been receiving heavy rains for the past two days.

Heavy rainfall in the region is disrupting rescue operations. Five-ten people are still missing that could include women and children.

The bus was heading for Durgapur from Jhargram when it got washed away as it was crossing the Amritpal bridge near Phulkusuma village at about 1:30 pm, Bankura Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat in Kolkata, "Three or four passengers of the bus are missing. There is no passenger inside the bus at present."

The driver lost control and the bus skidded as it was crossing the bridge when it was raining hard, she said.

A disaster management team was at the accident spot which is between Khatra and Raipur, Mamata said.