Balasore, February 13 The driver of a bus carrying pilgrims from West Bengal to Andhra Pradesh died and nine passengers were injured when the bus crashed into the wall of an overbridge on National Highway 16 in Balasore district, Odisha, on Friday, police said.
The accident occurred in Bahanaga Bazaar in the early hours, with the driver suspected to have fallen asleep while driving, a police officer said.
The impact of the collision was so severe that the driver was thrown out of the vehicle through the shattered windscreen and fell from the overpass onto the road below, dying instantly, Anurag Mohanty, the inspector-in-charge of the Khantapada police station, said. The deceased was from Andhra Pradesh.
The front portion of the bus was severely damaged, he added.
At least 40 passengers were on board the bus. The nine injured people were taken to the Khantapara community health center, where they received first aid and were released.
Local residents rescued the passengers before the arrival of police and fire service personnel.
Bahanaga had witnessed a major train accident on June 2, 2023, in which 297 people were killed and over 1,200 others were injured.
