Jamshedpur, July 18: As many as eight school children were injured when an over-loaded auto-rickshaw overturned near the Red Cross Bhawan on the busy Subernarekha Link Road under Bistupur thana area this afternoon. Five of the students sustained serious injuries.
The mishap took place when the auto-driver lost control over the vehicle after a lizard was sighted by the children who caused a commotion.
The school children were being taken back to their homes in Mango from Motilal Nehru Public School (MNPS) at Bistupur. The students, all girls starting from standard VII to standard IX were returning home.
All the injured were rescued and rushed to Tata Main Hospital by the passers-by.�
About 10 minutes after the mishap, a police party arrived at the scene and seized the three wheeler. The driver of the vehicle has also been taken into custody.
In the mishap two girls have sustained multiple injuries in their legs and three of them sustained head injuries.
The remaining three students who had sustained minor injuries, were released from the hospital.
OC, Bistupur thana, Rajesh Prakash Sinha confirmed about the mishap. ” We are investigating the incident.
We have seized the vehicle and are trying to find out the reason that the auto-rickshaw filled with school children getting overturned on a busy road,” said the OC.
One of the injured said that a child spotted a lizard above the driver’s seat and started screaming.
After they screamed at the sight of the lizard, the driver started removing it in one hand while continuing drive on the other hand.� Incidentally, the driver lost control over the vehicle suddenly and hit into a dust-bin.�