At least 15 children have been confirmed dead and several others were injured after the school bus they were travelling in collided with a truck in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday morning, Etah District Magistrate Shambu Nath told PTI. The government’s recognition of J S Vidyaniketan school was withdrawn as the institute had defied state-wide orders to keep all schools shut in view of extreme cold temperatures.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered an investigation into the accident while state police registered cases against the school owners, brothers Sujit Kumar and Ajit Kumar, principal Govind Srivastava and the truck driver, Yogendra Singh, who is undergoing treatment, The Indian Express reported. The incident had taken place in Etah’s Aliganj area.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased and injured. “I share the pain of the bereaved families and condole the deaths of the young children,” Modi said on Twitter.
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