The RGPV bus accident on Bhopal’s VIP Road injured 11 people, including eight students and three university staff members, after the privately hired vehicle hit an electricity pole and overturned on Tuesday morning. Three students suffered serious injuries, while police took the driver into custody for questioning.
The crash occurred around 10.30am on a curve between the Raja Bhoj statue and Karbala. The bus was carrying approximately 25 to 30 passengers from the 12 Number Stop area towards Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), travelling through Mata Mandir and New Market.
According to students cited in the report, the bus had reached its first stop about 30 minutes late. They alleged that the driver was travelling at high speed to make up for the delay and said passengers had repeatedly asked him to slow down. Student Sumit Parmar reportedly sent a message to a friend about the bus’s speed around two minutes before the crash.
The students told police that the bus’s front tyre climbed onto the road divider before the vehicle struck the electricity pole and overturned onto its side. The impact bent and damaged the pole, temporarily disrupting traffic on VIP Road during rescue operations.
The driver gave a different account during police questioning, saying that the steering suddenly jammed as he negotiated the curve and prevented him from turning the vehicle. Koh-e-Fiza police station house officer Lokendra Thakur said the driver was taken into custody soon after the accident. The supplied report does not state whether a mechanical inspection or formal accident investigation has been completed.
The most serious injuries were reported among students. First-year student Ajay Parmar suffered a severe head injury and serious damage to his arm near the shoulder and armpit. His limb was reportedly trapped between the bus and the pole, causing severe nerve damage, and he was placed on ventilator support at Hamidia Hospital.
Another student, Basant Kumar, suffered a femur fracture and was admitted to the intensive care unit. A female student sustained an injury above her eye and was taken to a private hospital by her family. Five other students received first aid for minor injuries and were discharged.
Three university staff members, including a peon, a photocopy machine operator and another operator, also suffered minor injuries. Police and passersby helped move the injured to Hamidia Hospital. Senior officials from RGPV and its University Institute of Technology visited the crash site and the hospital to enquire about the injured.
Traffic on VIP Road was restored after the rescue operation. Police questioning of the driver and the condition of the seriously injured students remain the immediate developments following the crash.
