Student was on the driver’s seat

ACHHAM, June 27: Three students were killed and four others injured after a tractor trailer met with an accident in Kolgaira of Chaurpati Rural Municipality-3 of Achham on Wednesday morning.

The students were on their way to school when they saw a tractor (Se 1 Ta 7839) heading toward their school Daspalla Secondary School (DSS) in Chaurpati-3. They took lift on the tractor; some sat at the front while others sate on the trailer.

Within a few minutes, the tractor lost control on the sloped dirt road and flipped on its side. Three of the students died on the spot and four others were critically injured. The deceased have been identified as Ramesh Saud, who recently appeared in the Secondary Education Examinations (SEE) from DSS, ninth grader Laxmi Saud and eighth grader Kali Saud, according to Lok Bahadur Bogati, a teacher of the school.

The driver of the tractor Dev Bahadur Saud however escaped death by jumping off the moving vehicle. Three of the injured students are undergoing treatment in Bayalpata Hospital while one has been referred to Dhangadhi for further treatment. One of the injured Uttam Saud stated that he along with his brother Ramesh and sister Kali had taken lift in the tractor from their home.

“We heard that the SEE results would be published today. As our elder brother was awaiting the results, we headed for the school,” said Uttam. According to him, he had asked his father [Dev Bahadur], the driver of the tractor trailer, to allow him to take the driver’s seat.  “As he gave me permission, I took the seat and he directed me to shift the tractor into second gear and after this the tractor went out of control and flipped,” said Uttam.

Dev Bahadur said his son Ramesh had a great desire to be a technical engineer for which he was also taking a bridge course. “I can’t believe I lost my son and daughter in the accident,” said Dev Bahadur.

Another injured Sharada Saud informed Republica that three of the deceased and four injured students were sitting at the front seats of the tractor while there were around nine students in the trailer. Those who were at the back of the tractor are safe. “Kali was crushed by the tractor and was screaming for help. But we could not pull her from under the tractor,” said Sarada.

The accident occurred at around 6:45 am.  A team of District Police Office (DPO), Achham led by Inspector Kalendra Shahi reached the accident site for inspection. The bodies of the deceased will be handed over to family members after performing post mortem at the District Hospital.

 
• tractor_trailer
 
• tractor_accident
 
• students_killed
 
• Achham