Bus falls into canal in MP; 18 bodies found, 20 people missing

At least 18 people,including seven women, died while 20 others went missing aftera bus fell off a bridge into a canal near Patna village inMadhya Pradesh's Sidhi district on Tuesday morning, policesaid.

A total of 18 bodies have been fished out of theBansagar canal until now, said Umesh Joga, Inspector General(Rewa zone).

''At least 20 other passengers are feared missing, anda search and rescue operation is underway,'' he told reporters.

Joga said seven persons swam to safety after the buslanded into the canal near Patna village, around 80 kms awayfrom the Sidhi district headquarter, around 8:30 AM.

Sources said that at least 50 passengers weretravelling in the ill-fated bus at the time of the accident.

Eye witnesses had said that the bus sank completelyinto the water and was not visible in the morning hours.

Later, the district administration stopped the releaseof water into the canal from the Banganga project, whichbrought the water level down.

The bus was then spotted at some distance away fromthe spot where it fell into the water, eye witnesses said.

The bus was retrieved out of the canal with the helpof two cranes, officials said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhansaid he ordered to stop the water outflow from the Bansagardam so that the water level in the canal can go down, whichwill aid in rescue operations.

He tweeted that teams of the State Disaster ResponseForce (SDRF) and local authorities were conducting rescueoperations at the spot.

Without specifying the number of the deceased, thechief minister said many ''precious lives'' were lost in theaccident.

Expressing grief, the CM said he was praying for thesafety of the missing persons.

Chouhan also said that efforts to save the missingpassengers are underway.

''I am continuously monitoring the situation. I am intouch with senior officials engaged in the rescue work,'' hetold reporters in Bhopal.

The chief minister also announced the ex-gratia of Rs5 lakh to kin of each victim killed in the accident.

''I have also sent Water Resources Minister TulsiramSilawat and MOS for Panchyat Ramkhelawan Patel to the spot ina state plane,'' Chouhan said.

Meanwhile, in view of the accident, the CM hascancelled the 'grih pravesh' or house-warming ceremony to beattended virtually by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Shah was scheduled to take part in this programme,scheduled to be held at 11 AM Minto Hall in Bhopal, for thebeneficiaries of over one lakh houses constructed in MadhyaPradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath has alsoexpressed grief over the bus tragedy.