Four students dead, 22 injured after school bus collides with tractor in Jamakhandi village

BAGALKOT: Four school students died and 22 were injured after the the school bus they were travelling in collided with a tractor near Alagur village in Jamakhandi taluk around midnight on Monday. All the students were from Kavatagi village and students of Vardhaman Mahavir Minorities Educational Institution.

The dead include two PUC students while the two others were studying in Class 9. They were identified as Sagar Kadakol and Basavaraj Kotagi both 17, Shwetha Patil and Govind, both aged 13. They were returning to Kavatagi after the annual day event at the school when the accident occurred.

Bagalkot Police Superintendent Amarnath Reddy said the injured children were admitted to government private hospitals in Jamakhandi and two of the seriously injured were shifted to Vijayapura. “The children were returning after the annual day event. We are questioning the school bus and tractor drivers. We will take action against the guilty”, he added.

On Monday, Jamakhandi MLA Jagadish Gudagunti and former MLA Anand Nyamagouda visited the injured children at the Jamakhandi government hospital and consoled the families. The two leaders also promised to get compensation released from the government soon.