A minister said an inquiry is being held to establish why the school was holding classes on Eid.
The principal of the school whose bus overturned in Haryana’s Mahendragarh, killing six children, is among three people who have been arrested in connection with the incident. The driver, who was allegedly drunk and jumped out of the bus just before it rammed into a tree, has also been taken into custody, along with the secretary of the trust that runs the school.
Officials said fourteen of the students who were hospitalised after the accident have been discharged but three are critical.
Students from Class 4 to 10 were heading to the GL Public School on Thursday when the bus carrying them rammed a tree and overturned. The bus belonged to the school and documents showed that the bus’ fitness certificate had expired six years ago, in 2018. A state road transport official has been suspended.
State Education Minister Seema Trikha said an inquiry is also being conducted to establish why classes were being held in the school on Eid, which is a holiday.
“The school should not have been open today. A show-cause notice has been issued and, apart from that, we have taken self-affidavits from private schools. The schools will have to provide an affidavit stating that transport vehicles used by them are following the transport rules,” she said.
Asked about police officials saying that the bus driver was drunk, the minister said, “If drivers are found drunk, schools will be held responsible. In such cases, FIRs will be filed against the driver, the bus owner and the school’s principal.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths of the schoolchildren. “The bus accident in Haryana’s Mahendragarh is extremely painful. My condolences are with all the families who have lost their children in the accident. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured children. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in providing all possible help to the victims and their families,” he wrote on X earlier in the day.
