Twenty persons were injured, five of them seriously, when a private bus in which they were travelling overturned near Haripur village, Nurpurbedi, about 14 km from Ropar, this morning.

The seriously injured, including Ashok Kumar, Mahender Kaur, Vidya, Ghanshi Ram and Chand Singh, had been admitted to the Civil Hospital, Ropar.

This was the second incident in the past two weeks when a private bus has been involved in a mishap.

Earlier on January 3, 14 girls and a bus driver were killed in a head-on collision of the two private buses near Fatehgarh Sahib.

The mishap took place around 8.30 am when the speeding bus, carrying about 35 passengers, turned turtle and slid about 10 feet off the roadside into a field.

The bus was on its way from Nurpurbedi to Ropar. The cause of the accident was said to be the breakdown of the main leaf spring after which the driver lost the control over the bus.

A few passengers managed to exit through the windows while most of them were rescued by the Army personnel who were camping near the accident site.

The top of the bus was opened by about 15 Army personnel and they took the injured in their ambulance and other vehicles to the hospital. Later, the police and hospital employees came to help.

"I fell down with shock and was unable to move when the bus overturned. The Army personnel admitted me to the hospital," said Ms Mahender Kaur who sustained head injuries.

Another injured, Mr Ashok Kumar, a fruit seller, said, “I boarded the bus from Nurpurbedi at 8.10 am and was going to Ropar to purchase fruits. All of a sudden the bus overturned and hit the tree. I was rendered unconscious and rescued by the Army personnel.”

"I all of a sudden lost control as the main leaf of the bus was damaged and before I could do anything the bus overturned," said Mr Goldi, driver of the bus.

The DSP, Mr Varinder Singh, Nurpurbedi, said so far they had not registered any case against the bus driver as the accident took place because of reasons beyond human control and no negligence was found.

“We have been investigating the case and called the owner of the bus for further investigation,” he added.

The other persons who sustained injures were Santosh Marwah, Chand Singh, Vidyawati, Mohinder Singh, Noor Ahmed, Ghasi Ahmed, Ram Parkash, Parkash Chand, Avtar, Gurdeep Singh, Atma Ram, Parshotam Lal, Babu Ram and Mahinder Kaur, Ashok Kumar.

All injured hail from various villages of Nurpurbedi and most of them belong to poor families.