Eighteen children suffered injuries when a carpool ferrying them to school went off the road and turned a side on the outskirts of Balurghat town on Monday morning.

While nine of the injured were discharged after primary treatment, nine others have sustained serious injuries and are under treatment at Balurghat district hospital. The car’s driver has also been admitted to the hospital.

Sources said the children, four to nine years old, were students of an english medium school in Daralhat, a locality in Tapan block of South Dinajpur district around 18km from Balurghat.

“We suspect that the driver lost control of the vehicle, along the Balurghat-Tapan state highway, as he was on his cell phone while driving. It is disappointing that he was not alert, despite having 18 children on board,” said Rizaul Haque, an eyewitness of the accident.

Rahul Dey, the district police chief, said a probe was on.

Sources said around 50 pool cars carry students to schools every day in the district.

Police and DYFI workers clash in Hooghly district

At least five DYFI workers and three cops were injured in Hooghly’s Chinsurah after a clash broke out during a protest rally on Monday.

The rally was held for the resignation of zilla parishad functionary Santanu Banerjee, who was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged involvement in teachers’ recruitment scam.

Sources said around 600 DYFI supporters took out a procession in Chinsurah to submit a memorandum to the chief of Hooghly Zilla Parishad demanding the resignation of Banerjee. DYFI state president Dhrubajyoti Saha was present during the protest.

Six DYFI supporters were taken to the hospital but two of them were admitted.