In an accident, six children were killed and as many as 15 injured after a private school bus carrying them lost control and overturned in the Kanina area of Mahendragarh district in Haryana on Thursday.

After the incident, students were rushed to the Nihal Hospital in Mahendragarh district in the State.

Doctor Ravi Kaushik of Nihal Hospital in Mahendragarh said that four students were brought dead and one critical student who was put on a ventilator passed away at the hospital. Fifteen injured students have been referred to another hospital. SDM and administration were present, he added.

According to officials, a private school bus carrying 40 children was en route to school despite a holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr. The bus belonged to GL Public School, a private school in the district.

Officials stated that the accident near Unhani village in the district resulted in injuries for several others. Following the accident, a large group of people assembled at the site.

According to District Education Officer, the driver was probably under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. Police have said that the investigation into the matter is still on.

Official documents show that the bus’ fitness certificate had expired six years ago in 2018, as per the report.

A student, who suffered injuries after a private school bus met with an accident in Mahendragarh’s Kanina, said that the driver was drunk and he kept the speed at 120 which led to a misbalance.

Speaking to reporters, the Mahendragarh District Collector Monika Gupta said that it has come to notice that this was a private school which was being run even on a holiday and action will be taken. Six casualties have been reported, she added. Treatment of the injured children is going on. Now there is no danger to anyone’s life. The government is providing them with the best possible treatment. There was also a lack of documents in the vehicle, so an FIR is being lodged against the school administration as well, Gupta further said.

A video of people climbing school walls in Haryana’s Nuh to help the students by passing the chits to them while they were writing their class 10 board exams, has been shared widely on social media platforms.

According to reports, the incident has left people in shock, which took place at the Chandravati School in the Tauru area in Nuh district on March 6. It was reported that the paper had been allegedly leaked shortly after the commencement of the board exam.  

Taking cognisance of the matter, the District Education Officer Paramjeet Chahal said that he had come across the video and said some newspaper cuttings that some children had climbed up the roof of a school. He further said that he had asked for a report regarding it.

The incident has sparked widespread condemnation from people. The locals were alarmed by the blatant disregard for examination protocols and captured the event, which prompted an immediate response from education authorities. As a result, an investigation was ordered to identify the individuals involved, and officials have vowed to take stringent action against those found guilty of facilitating cheating for students.

This incident has also prompted a reassessment of security measures at examination centres and the Haryana School Education Department needs to implement more robust mechanisms to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Last year in February, an incident from Bihar’s Samastipur got the attention of the people where students were reportedly helped by their relatives to cheat during an exam in Sant Kabir College. The video of the incident was viral on the internet and became a hot discussion in the country.

The alleged relatives of the students were seen holding out their phones through the channel gate in order to show the students the right answer. Not only one but a large crowd of people were seen standing outside the channel gate to help the students cheat.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday took a bike rike to Karnal airport in an attempt to support the car free day initiative in the state. Earlier, the chief minister announced that every Tuesday would be a car-free day in Karnal, where all government officials would travel by bicycle only.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, CM Manohar Lal Khattar wrote that be it Car Free Day or the resolve to make Drug-free Haryana, it cannot be accomplished without public cooperation. He expressed that he also made a small cooperation to reduce car traffic today by travelling to Karnal Airport by bike on Car Free Day. He added that he hopes the aware people of the state will take this message forward and inspire people to give up their cars just for a day. 

On September 1, in an effort to check pollution, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar declared that Tuesdays from now will be designated as car-free days in Karnal. Under the aegis of this initiative, all government officials will be required to travel by bicycle on Tuesdays.

Meanwhile on Monday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar flagged off a cyclothon in Haryana’s Yamunanagar to promote the initiative of drug-free Haryana. The campaign titled Cyclothon for a Drug-Free Haryana witnessed the first cyclothon on September 1 and Monday, September 25.

Speaking about drug-free Haryana, the Chief Minister noted that their goal will not be achieved by mere march against drug addiction. He added that in order to eradicate it from its roots they will have to create public awareness continuously. He underlined that to eliminate drug addiction, they have to break the drug supply chain for which the government is taking action against the drug smugglers with great responsibility. 

The Chief Minister further remarked that during Cyclothon Yatra Closing Ceremony in Karnal, all the people present there took many resolutions to eradicate drug addiction from the society.