The vehicle was made by modifying a rickshaw meant to carry just two passengers. Eleven students of up to the third grade were in the ´van´. [break]
The vehicle was used to carry students to Shanti Bal Sadan at Tintoliya, Biratnagar Municipality ward number 13.
Immediate treatment to the injured children was possible only because the accident occurred at the busy Himalayan Road. Locals rescued the children and took them to a nearby Traffic Police Office. Of the injured children, one is a third grader, two are second graders and the rest are nursery students.
Nearly 200 students study at the school that runs classes from nursery to the ninth grade. Of the students, 60 are transported to and from the school every day in two rickshaw-vans.
School principal Shanker Yadav said the vans undergo maintenance every week, and added the students had only minor injuries. He also said that the axle of the rickshaw that met with accident Sunday has already been replaced with a new one.
However, the injured kids were in a state of shock and did not attend school Sunday.
"They all were in a state of shock," said Binod Thakur, who reached the Traffic Police Office to see his daughter Binita. "We had told the school many times to send the rickshaws for maintenance, but to no avail," he added.
There are over 300 private schools in Biratnagar that transport students in similar fashion and the vehicles are mostly overloaded. In addition, the built of the rickshaw-vans is such that rescuing children can be difficult in case of a major accident.
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