45 killed as bus plunges into canal in MP's Sidhi district

At least 45 people,including 20 women, were killed when a packed bus skidded offthe road and plunged into a canal in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhidistrict on Tuesday morning, a senior official said.

The accident took place near Patna village, around 80km from the Sidhi district headquarters, when the ill-fatedbus was on its way to Satna from Sidhi, he said.

A search operation involving State Disaster ResponseForce (SDRF) personnel and local authorities was still on atthe site, the official said.

Rescuers have retrieved 45 bodies from the canal sofar, said Rewa Divisional Commissioner Rajesh Jain, underwhose jurisdiction the accident took place.

''A total of 45 bodies - 24 of men, 20 women and achild - have been fished out of the Bansagar canal until now,''he said, adding a magisterial probe has been ordered toascertain the cause of the accident.

''Seven persons managed to swim to safety,'' he said.

The packed bus, coming from Sidhi and going to Satna,veered off the road and rolled down the canal which is part ofthe Bansagar project at around 8:30 AM, said Inspector General(Rewa zone) Umesh Joga.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief at the''horrific'' bus accident and approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakheach for the next of kin of those who lost their lives.

Modi said, ''The bus accident in MP's Sidhi ishorrific. Condolences to the bereaved families. The localadministration is actively involved in rescue and reliefwork.'' Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed griefover the tragedy and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh eachto the kin of the deceased.

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

The Chief Minister said he ordered to stop the wateroutflow from the Bansagar dam so that water level in the canalcould go down and help in the rescue operation.

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

Eyewitnesses said the bus sank completely into thecanal water and was not visible in the morning hours.

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

Meanwhile, in view of the accident, the CM cancelled ahouse-warming ceremony to be attended virtually by Union HomeMinister Amit Shah.

Shah was scheduled to take part in the programme,scheduled to be held at 11 AM in Bhopal, for the beneficiariesof over one lakh houses constructed in Madhya Pradesh underthe Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).