24 schoolchildren injured in pile-up on flyover

New Delhi

At least 24 schoolchildren suffered injuries in a pile-up on central Delhi’s Salimgarh flyover on Monday morning, the police said, adding that all of them are out of danger.

According to the police, four buses, a car, an autorickshaw and a bike were involved in the pile-up. A total of 216 students were seated in the four buses. In all, 28 people, including three members of the school staff and a civilian, were injured, they added. The police received information about the accident around 10.57 a.m. “The PCR vans shifted all the injured persons to Lok Nayak Hospital,” a police officer said.

DCP (Central) Shweta Chauhan said the buses were hired by different schools — Government Secondary School, Bhalaswa village; Government Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya,  Khajoori; Government Boys’ Secondary School, C-Block, Dilshad Garden. They were going on an educational tour to the zoo and Akshardham, the DCP added. 

“Most of the students have been discharged from the hospital,” the officer said. Explaining the sequence of events, DCP Chauhan said the car was ahead of the autorickshaw, which was followed by three of the buses, a bike and then one more bus.

“Prima facie, it appears that the first two vehicles applied brakes all of a sudden due to which others collided. However, what exactly happened will be clear only after forensic examination,” another officer said.