At least 40 people were killed and many were reported missing after a bus fell off a bridge into a canal in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district on Tuesday. The incident happened near Patna village.
The bus with around 60 passengers was heading from Sidhi to Satna when it fell into the canal in Shardhapathak village after the driver lost control of the vehicle. All the passengers are said to be local villagers.
The Police and a team of SDRF have been conducting the rescue operation. The patrolling team has been sent up to 20 Kms along the canal to look for more bodies, said Sidhi collector Ravindra Chaudhary.
The tragic incident happened at around 8.30 and bus sank fully into the water and was not seen in the morning hours. Later, the district administration halted the release of water into the canal, which brought the water level down.
CM Chouhan condoled the deaths and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family of the deceased.