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As many as 17 students and three teachers of a private school were injured after a speeding sports-utility vehicle (SUV) rammed their school bus on Pipeline Road, Banashan- kari 6th Phase, 4th T Block Monday morning. While three students suffered fractures and head injuries, the rest escaped with bruises.

The bus belonging to Veda Vijnana Pathashala, run by the Art of Living Foundation on its premises Kanakapura Road, was on its way to the school after picking students from Sobha Apartments on the Pipeline Road.

A speeding SUV which came from a cross road rammed the bus on its side. As the SUV hit the front wheel of the bus, the driver lost control over the vehicle. The bus toppled twice and came to a halt after hitting a high-tension electricity pole. One of the two cement poles broke into two due to the impact of the collision, the police said. 

The public rushed to the spot and rescued all the children in the bus. By the time the jurisdictional Talaghattapura Police reached the spot, the public were shifting the injured students in private vehicles to a nearby private hospital – Sai Ram Hospital on Kanakapura Road.

An eye witness told Deccan Herald that though the children were not severely injured, they were in a state of shock and crying. He said a major disaster would have occurred if the bus had hit the 11kV transformer on the high tension pole.

 Police sources said there were at least 20 students and three teachers in the bus. Rajath Hegde (13) suffered a major head injury and he underwent surgery at a hospital.  Hospital sources said that since Rajath was bleeding heavily and his injuries were severe, he had to be operated upon. The boy is recuperating at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. 

Fourteen-year-old Anshuman also suffered a injury on the head and has been hospitalised. J Narain (9) suffered a shoulder fracture. Prarthana (12), Kruthi Vasu (6), Niranjani (10), Aniket (9), Niyuma (12), Aditya (13), Sriva (11), Shenaz (12), Ankith (10) and Chandranna (14) and teachers Pramodini (36), Bharathi (35) and Deepa (30) suffered minor injuries.

They were all treated as out patients. The bus driver Krishnamurthy, 26, sustained a fracture in his right hand.

The Talaghattapura police have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the SUV driver, who abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene. The police have seized the SUV.