Masayipet Mishap: School bus was driven by tractor driver

Hyderabad, July 24 : Preliminary enquiries by the local police into the Masayitpet school bus-train mishap which claimed the lives of at least 20 students on Thursday revealed that the person who drove the ill-fated school bus was not a regular bus driver.

The driver, Bhikshapati, who also got killed in the mishap was a tractor driver. He was asked by the school management to drive the bus because the regular driver did not report to duty on Thursday. Being inexperienced, Bikshapathi is feared to have miscalculated the train speed and tried to cross the tracks which proved suicidal. Of 38 students in the bus, 13 died on the spot and at least seven students succumbed to injuries in the hospital. Another 15 students are still undergoing treatment in different hospitals. Only three children survived in the accident.  INN