The Maharashtra state transport bus which fell off a bridge into the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh on Monday was traveling at 45 km/h and not exceeding speed, officials from the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation say (MSRTC).

They said an investigation had been ordered to find out the exact circumstances leading up to the crash in light of initial findings suggesting the bus was not accelerating.

A senior official said the bus was equipped with a vehicle tracking system (VTS). According to records extracted from the system, the bus was traveling at 45 kilometers per hour (km/h) when it plunged into the river at 9:47 a.m.

“That means the bus didn’t overspend,” the official said.

He said an inquest has been ordered to find out what happened at the time of the crash as the bus broke the railings on the driver’s side bridge before descending.

At least 12 passengers were killed after the bus fell off the bridge between Khalghat and Thigari in Dhar district, hours after it left for Amalner in Maharashtra from Indore.

All public transport buses, including those operated by MSRTC, are locked to the maximum speed of 80 km/h using a device called “cruise control”.

Another senior official said the media reported that 40-50 passengers traveling on the bus were wrong.

MSRTC officials pointed out that all the doors of the bus were locked when it was lifted from the riverbed using a crane. This implies that there is less chance that someone was swept away by the river. Also, ATM records indicate the same.

“Throughout the day, no one came forward to say that their loved one was on the bus and had disappeared. We received no complaints on the helpline, and no one contacted the local administration on site,” he said, adding that the relatives of all the crash victims have come forward.

Another MSRTC official, who is at the scene of the crash, told PTI by phone that the bus had ten passengers in addition to the driver and driver.

He said the local administration had stopped the search and rescue operation at the scene.

Notably, the MP’s Home Department Additional Chief Secretary, Dr. Rajesh Rajora, told PTI on Monday night that 12 people were killed in the crash and two passengers were possibly missing.

He also said a search operation involving personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Home Guard jawans was underway to locate the missing passengers.

The bus was operated by the Amalner depot in Jalgaon district on the Indore-Amalner route.

The MSRTC official further said that ticket machine records show that the bus had nine passengers on board when it departed from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh at around 8.15 a.m. but another passenger boarded at Dharmapuri. , where the bus stopped around 9:17 a.m. for a few minutes.

Dharmapuri is a few kilometers from the Narmada river bridge near Khalghat.

The tenth passenger may have boarded the bus at Dharmapuri, which is one of the official stops, but the bus may have encountered the accident before the ticket was issued to that passenger, officials added. .

The MSRTC adopted an advanced GPS-based ticketing system a few years ago whereby each time a driver issues a ticket, the information is updated on the central ticketing server.

(Only the title and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear reader,

Business Standard has always endeavored to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that matter to you and that have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your constant encouragement and feedback on how to improve our offering has only strengthened our resolve and commitment to these ideals. Even in these challenging times stemming from Covid-19, we remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative opinions and incisive commentary on relevant topical issues.
However, we have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more so that we can continue to bring you more great content. Our subscription model has received an encouraging response from many of you who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of bringing you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practice the journalism we are committed to.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

digital editor