A bus accident in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh killed at least 13, officials said. The Maharashtra-bound vehicle fell into the Narmada river The deceased included four women and a child. 

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said 15 people were rescued.

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The bus, belonging to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), was believed to be carrying 30 to 32 people, an official said.

What do we know about the bus?

1) The MSRTC bus was more than 10 years old and its fitness certificate was about to expire in about 10 days, RTO officials said. It broke the railing of a bridge on the National Highway No.3 (Agra-Mumbai). 

2) The bus left from Indore, MP at about 7.30 AM. It was heading to Amalner in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra, MSRTC officials said. 

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3) The MSRTC bus was registered with the the Nagpur rural Regional Transport Office in 2012. The certificate stated that it was roadworthy, a senior RTO official said.

4) Its Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate and insurance were valid, he added. 

5) The bus driver and conductor have been identified as Chandrakant Eknath Patil and Shravan Chaudhary respectively. 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident and directed the MSRTC to take immediate action to pay Rs 10 lakh to the relatives of each of the deceased passengers.

The MSRTC later announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the relatives of each of the deceased and to bear the entire cost of treatment cost of the injured persons.

The MSRTC in a release said so far 13 bodies, including of the bus driver and conductor, have been retrieved from the river and eight of them have been identified.

The injured were being taken to the nearest hospital for treatment and the MSRTC was gathering update about their health condition, it said.

The six other deceased have been identified as Chetan Ramgopal Jangid from Jaipur in Rajasthan, Jagannath Hemraj Joshi (70) from Udaipur in Rajasthan, Nibaji Ananda Patil (60), Kamalabai Nibaji Patil (55), both from Amalner in Jalagaon, Aarva Murtuja Bora (27) from Akola in Maharashtra, and Saifuddin Abbas Nurani from Indore in MP.

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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed Maharashtra CM Shinde and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over phone about the bus accident.

“Chouhan assured Shinde that the MP government will send the bodies of the victims to Maharashtra with due respect,” an official said quoting Chouhan.