Surajpur, Sep 5 (PTI) At least 32 staffers and workers of the South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) were injured after a bus carrying them fell into a rivulet in Surajpur district of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, police said.

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The incident occurred when a total of 43 personnel of the SECL were travelling for work in the bus to the Mahan open cast coal mines from the Bhatgaon headquarter of the company.

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When the bus reached a bridge near Sukhdevpur village under the Khadgawan police chowki limits, the driver lost control over the steering wheel, following which the vehicle veered off the road, broke the bridge's cement railings, and landed in the rivulet, a local police official said.

A police team rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation with the help of locals, he said.

All the occupants of the bus were shifted to a nearby hospital in Bhatgaon from where 32 of them were referred to a private hospital in Ambikapur, the official said, adding the remaining staffers were discharged after administering first aid.

The official said a major tragedy was averted thanks to the low level of water in the rivulet.

A case has been registered and a further probe is underway, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)