20 students on way to school hurt as bus overturns in Madhya Pradesh's Nepanagar

Burhanpur: Twenty students were injured on Wednesday morning when their speeding school bus overturned near a riverbank in Nepanagar town of Madhya Pradesh, the police said.

The accident took place around 7.30 am near the Dharni river as the bus, apparently being driven at a very high speed, veered off the road and overturned, Nepanagar sub-divisional officer of police Nirbhay Singh Alwa told the news agency from the spot.

Four of the students sustained hand or leg fractures and injuries to the head, he said, adding that the injured students were admitted to nearby government and private hospitals.

Some of the students told officials that they had asked the driver to slow down but he did not pay heed, Alwa said.

The incident took place 45 km from Burhanpur and more than 300 km from state capital Bhopal.

The bus was on its way to the Senior Secondary School at Nepanagar, a town famous for paper mills.

A case of rash and negligent driving was registered against the driver who fled from the spot, and the police were searching for him, the official said.