Surat: At least seven people were killed and around 15 others injured in a major road accident involving two Maharashtra State Transport (ST) buses and a tractor near Uva-Manekpor village in Bardoli taluka of Gujarat’s Surat district on Tuesday, officials said.
According to preliminary information, a Maharashtra ST bus travelling from Dhule to Surat via Navapur collided with a tractor moving ahead on the highway. The impact caused the bus to lose control, cross the central divider, and crash head-on into another Maharashtra ST bus coming from the opposite direction.
One of the buses was carrying around 25 to 26 passengers, while the other had approximately 33 to 35 passengers on board.
The collision was severe enough that one bus overturned multiple times before catching fire. It then rolled down an embankment after the crash, officials said.
Authorities said several passengers were trapped inside the vehicle after it was engulfed in flames, making rescue operations extremely challenging.
So far, seven deaths have been confirmed, but officials fear the toll could rise as several injured passengers remain in critical condition.
Around 15 injured passengers were rescued from the wreckage and shifted to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Fire brigade teams, police personnel, and ambulance services rushed to the spot and launched a large-scale rescue and relief operation. Firefighters worked to douse the blaze while rescue teams searched the mangled vehicles for survivors and trapped passengers.
The accident also led to a major traffic jam on the highway, with vehicular movement disrupted for several hours as emergency teams cleared the site and carried out rescue operations.
Police have launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident. Further details are awaited as authorities continue to identify victims and assess the circumstances leading to the crash.
With IANS inputs