A Hazaribagh bound bus collided head-on with a truck on Ranchi-Patna Highway near Koderma Bazar injuring 15 passengers on early Sunday morning. The bus named Hemkunt was going to Hazaribagh from Patna when the accident took place. One passenger was referred to RIMS, Ranchi and the rest of the injured were provided treatment at Koderma Sadar hospital.

Police officials said the bus with the registration number-JH02Q/6862 was on the way to Hazaribagh when it hit a truck (CG04JO/8494) at around 4 am. Police informed the accident occurred due to high speed. “But we have to find out whether the bus driver or the truck driver was responsible for this mishap,” added the officials.

The damaged bus in Koderma on Sunday.

Koderma police station officer-in-charge Dwarika Ram reached the spot and started the relief work after being informed about the accident. The injured were pulled out from the mangled bus and were sent to hospitals.

One Chandrakant Prasad, resident of Nawada in Bihar, sustained grievous injures and was rushed to RIMS, Ranchi. A 24-year-old Ankit Kumar of Rohtas district said all passengers were sleeping when the collision took place. As the crash happened, the injured passengers started shouting for help. There were many who escaped unhurt or with minor injuries. Ram said they had seized both the truck and the bus and lodged an FIR against the drivers for negligent driving.