A school bus carrying 30 students overturned at Chund in Mandar block of Ranchi, Jharkhand, on Saturday morning, injuring 16 children.

According to police sources, the driver was speaking on the phone when the bus swerved and overturned in a field around 7.30am.

“One student had to undergo an MRI scan at RIMS in Ranchi for a head injury, while others have been discharged after medical treatment at Constant Lievens Hospital in Mandar,” said Mandar police station officer-in-charge Rahul Kumar.

The police official said that the driver fled from the spot after the incident and the local villagers broke open the bus door and brought out the students who were going to
St Maria School in Chund, barely a kilometre from the site of the mishap.

Mandar MLA Shilpi Neha Tirkey, who visited the hospital and the school, said that she had written to all the schools in her constituency
to hire buses or appoint drivers after careful scrutiny of their documents.

Some parents on condition of anonymity claimed the driver was speeding the bus as it was 45 minutes delayed than the usual time.

Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren has expressed concern regarding the accident and directed the administration to ensure proper medical treatment of all the injured students.