Auto-rickshaw carrying 25 kids falls into ditch

Mandya, Feb 19: At least 25 schoolchildren packed into an autorickshaw had a narrow escape when the vehicle lost control and fell into a ditch in Mysuru district's KR Pete taluk on Thursday morning.

Some of the children suffered minor injuries and were treated as outpatients in the taluk hospital. The chidren were in the age group of 6 to 10. A police officer said the autorickshaw driver lost control while negotiating a curve near Ballekere village in the taluk. According to eyewitnesses, the vehicle hit the parapet wall of Hosaholalu lake and plunged into a 15-foot-deep gorge.

An autorickshaw is permitted to carry three adult passengers.

Police said the driver found his vehicle wobbly as he drove on a carpet of freshly harvested finger-millet straw left on the road to dry . Farmers busy with the thrashing exercise and motorists ran down the gorge to pull the children out of the three-wheeler.

They summoned 108 ambulances, which took the injured children to hospital. The children are out of danger.

Javaregowda from the village said drivers were violating rules and carrying children far beyond the capacity of the vehicle. "Police, school authorities and parents must care more for the safety of children," he added. A police officer warned drivers against carrying more than the prescribed number of children in school trips. He cautioned farmers against thrashing their crops on roads.

The taluk hospital, surviving on a doctor and three support staff, was stretched as it battled a sudden rush of children into its premises. Some parents were seen jostling with each other to seek the attention of doctors for their injured children.