A school bus carrying students fell into a defense drain killing 8 students and injuring 15 others at Muhawa village near Attari border, Amritsar, Punjab.

The incident took place at around 1 pm. The bus was carrying 37 children of DAV Public School, Neshta, Attari, Amritsar, to home after school.

8 bodies have been recovered but some of them are still missing. Critically injured were taken to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, while 6 were admitted in a private hospital at Chheharta. Rescue operation is undergoing.

All the children are between 7 and 14 years of age and lives in the nearby villages of Tibbi, Muhawa and Neshta.

A student said that the van driver, Rajataal village’s Charanjit Singh who had just joined on Monday was given warning by them about the narrow bridge ahead that doesn’t have railings but he didn’t listen. Suddenly the front tyres were in the air and they landed in the drain.

One of the older students in the van, was also injured but helped rescue injured students and pulled out seven bodies. He said the doors were jammed and he had to break open windowpanes to come out and rescue the students. He added that some of the senior students managed to swim to safety but the younger ones were the casualty.

The police and school authorities have reached the spot. The place has been swarmed by hundreds of locals before the area was cordoned of.