TEAM HERALD
VASCO: A woman was killed while four others were injured after a speeding tourist bus carrying Russian tourists collided with three vehicles, before toppling near the Gomantak Bakery at Savorfond-Sancoale on Saturday morning.
According to reports, at the time of the incident the tourist bus was carrying about 24 Russian tourists from the airport to different hotels in north Goa.
According to some eyewitnesses, the bus was speeding at a sharp turn near the Gomantak Bakery, when it rammed into an oncoming Maruti Swift car, a scooter and another Volkswagen Polo car before toppling on the road and blocking the Cortalim-Vasco highway for nearly half an hour.
The impact of the mishap was such that the front portion of the bus was badly damaged and the axle was broken, while the two cars also sustained heavy damages. The scooter was partially damaged.
According to eyewitnesses, the Russian tourists managed to escape from the bus through the windows.
The driver of the Polo car suffered neck injuries, while the person seated next to the driver fractured his legs. A woman seated behind banged her head on the back of the driver’s seat and received serious head injuries.
Paramedics of a 108 ambulance pulled out the unconscious woman, Rita Cabral (64), and the other two occupants of the car, Roger Cabral (69) and Dwayne Cabral (21), while the other car driver, Subash Raut, and the scooter rider were also shifted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim.
Rita was declared dead on admission, while Roger, Dwayne, Raut and the scooter rider were discharged after administering first aid, police said.
Police teams from Verna and Vasco rushed to the site along with Verna PI Rajesh Kumar and Mormugao DySP Laurence D’Souza and took the bus driver into custody. The Vasco Traffic police led by Traffic PI Sudesh Narvekar shifted the
ill-fated vehicles and cleared the traffic. Verna PSI Anand Shirodkar is investigating the case.
