VADODARA: Eight people, including the bus driver, were killed and 26 others were injured after a private luxury bus rammed into a stationary truck on a highway in Gujarat’s Vadodara district in the early hours of Wednesday.The accident took place around 4:00am near Kotambi village on the outskirts of Vadodara city, on the Vadodara–Halol Highway. The bus was travelling from Rajasthan to Surat when it crashed into the truck, which was parked on the roadside, news agency PTI reported.Most of the passengers on the bus were residents of neighbouring Rajasthan, officials said.Vadodara superintendent of police Sushil Agrawal informed, “All but one of the deceased were passengers. Eight people died, while 26 others were injured in the accident. While six of them were killed on the spot, two injured passengers succumbed during treatment later in the day. The bus driver was among those who lost their lives.”Police said the truck driver had halted the vehicle on the roadside to check tire pressure when the speeding bus hit it from behind.Several passengers were trapped inside the mangled bus following the collision. Rescue teams from the police, fire brigade, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) carried out operations to extricate those trapped. The injured were then rushed to nearby hospitals for further treatment.Agrawal said the truck driver has been rounded up and the process of placing him under arrest is underway.(With agency inputs)
