Five killed, 46 injured in Nawada accident

NAWADA: At least five persons were killed and 46 injured when a private bus turned turtle on NH-31 at Andharbari village, around 10km from Rajauli police station, on Monday morning. Among the dead are four from Musahar community besides bus driver Naushad Alam of village Juri under Roh police station area of Nawada district.
Police sources said the other killed in the accident were identified as Bhaso Manjhi, his daughter Gita and maternal grandsons Ranjit Manjhi and Arun Manjhi, all residents of Banganga under Nardiganj police station area of the district.
Police said all the passengers were labourers of a private brick kiln in Kolkata. They were returning home in the ill-fated bus. While four persons, according to the civil surgeon Srinath Prasad, were referred to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), others were undergoing treatment at Rajauli primary health centre and Nawada sadar hospital.
Nawada DM Manoj Kumar visited sadar hospital and directed the civil surgeon to extend all possible help to the injured.
Police said around 55 persons, mostly labourers from Mahadalit community, who worked for a private brick kiln in Kolkata, were returning home in the private bus hired specifically to carry them home. “Near Andharbari village, the driver lost control causing the bus to plunge into the roadside pit,” said police.
An officer said local villagers as well as the Rajauli sub-division SDO and the SDPO assisted the villagers in transporting the injured to hospitals at Rajauli and Nawada in three ambulances. While four persons died on the spot, the fifth succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital.
Four to 5 lakh labourers, 90% of them from the Mahadalit community from Nawada district, go to other states in search of employment every year. “Their migration is illegally carried out through unscrupulous labour suppliers. Ironically, though, lakhs migrate every year, there is not even a single registered or licensed labour supplier in the district,” said a police source, adding that the migration has been going on unchecked for over 20 to 25 years.