DIMAPUR, JULY 23 (MExN): Students travelling in a Nagaland Police bus had a narrow escape here this evening when the vehicle skidded off the road and perched precariously on the edge of the highway. The accident occured at around 4:30pm between Assam Rifles camp and Sewak Gate, Mokokchung. Preliminary reports from the traffic police on site attributed the accident to negligence by the driver. All the student passengers including the driver escaped without any injury.
The 37-seater Nagaland Police bus bearing registration number NL-11 / 1128 was ferrying school and college students from Mokokchung town to Alichen as routine. When inquired, traffic police personnel on site did not rule out the question of the driver being in an inebriated state.
A stunned student who was in the bus when the accident happened said that there were about 40 of them travelling in the bus. The rear differential of the bus got stuck on a small parapet structure leaving the bus precariously perched on the roadside.
Vegetation overgrowth and accumulated dirt on the roadside also aided in stopping the bus from sliding down the slope. The bus could have otherwise plunged down about 40 meters before crashing on the NH702D below and the magnitude of the accident would have been very high.
Three recovery vans were put into action to retrieve the precariously perched bus.
