On June 20, Tuesday morning, eight students of a private primary school were injured in a road accident on Lal Bahadur Street in Puducherry, with two of them sustaining injuries on the head. The accident took place when the auto the students were travelling in collided with a private bus coming from the opposite side, while they were approaching St Joseph of Cluny School, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
After the accident, the students, who are all girls between 8 to 10 years old, were rescued by the bus driver, conductor and the local residents and were taken to the Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital. One of the girls, who sustained a head injury, was operated upon and is now placed on ventilator support. The auto driver has also been hospitalised.
Following the accident, the parents of the children with head injuries wanted to take their children to a hospital in Chennai for better treatment. However, they were advised against it by Lieutenant Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, as the transportation would be risky under the current road conditions.
The Lieutenant Governor visited the hospital and interacted with the doctors. She further suggested to the parents that shifting their children can only be considered upon ascertaining that they are stable and that the General Hospital has all specialised facilities and neurosurgeons for their care.
The students were also paid a visit by Chief Minister N Ramgasamy and Home Minister A Namassivayam. Namassivayam later said that they would introduce steps to change school timings slightly to avoid rush during peak traffic hours.
