Seven persons, including two women, were today killed and 12 other bus passengers injured, when a Behramporebound private bus collided head-on with an oil-tanker at NTPC crossing of NH-34 under Farakka police station limits in Murshidabad district. The injured were taken to a primary health centre at Beniagram area of Farakka. Both the drivers died on the spot.

The deceased were identified as Arup Ghosh (28) hailing from Kandi, Sukumar Das (45), the bus driver, Anisur Rahaman (45) from Meghasiara village of Sagardighi, Kamala Bewa (45) from Jaganpara in Raghunathganj block, Sonu Kumar (30),the oil tanker driver from Chhapra district in Bihar, Deepika Modak (24) and Palash Kumar Singh, a police personnel. Singh was from Ratua area of Malda district.

His daughter, a nursing student at Bankura Medical College, had left her hostel to meet her family members in Berhampore. But, on her way she saw her father dead. Sunil Kumar, the helper of the oil tanker driver, said , “Our tanker had diesel. We left Kolkata last night for Assam. I had no idea how the collision occurred.” Passengers aboard the bus said they were asleep when the accident took place.

“I woke up due to a violent jerk. I found my co-passengers thrown off their seats under the impact of the collision. I jumped out through one broken window”, said a survivor. Police personnel and civic police volunteers, helped by local residents, joined the rescue operation. They helped the passengers extricate themselves from the wreckage.

Two of the injured were admitted to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, Behrampore from where they were referred to a hospital in Kolkata as their condition deteriorated, sources said. Deepika Modak, 23, a resident of Sukanta Pally in Siliguri, was among the dead. She was on her way to Berhampur where she was supposed to appear in her BEd examinations, it is learnt.

“Her parents, Dilip Modak and Chhabi Modak, both are suffering from heart problems, and are in Bangalore for treatment. They will board a train for Siliguri tomorrow. Only an elderly grandmother of the deceased is in the Siliguri home right now,” family sources said.