Four kids drown as bus falls into canal

RAJAHMUNDRY: Four schoolchildren reportedly drowned on Tuesday when the bus taking them home after school fell into a canal in East Godavari district.The four were among 28 children who were in the bus when the driver lost control while negotiating the bus on a bridge over the Rajavaram- Pedapudi canal at Gantipedapudi village. Later in the night, East Godavari district collector Nitu Kumari Prasad told Express that two children - Bindu Madhavi and A Ravi, both students of class four at Sai Teja Convent in P Gannavaram - were confirmed dead.There was confusion about the number of children who were missing, but reports from the scene of the accident placed it anywhere between three to five.The rest of the children were rescued by passersby and local villagers who jumped into the 12 ft deep canal to save the children.Search operation was still going on when reports last came in, with the lack of power proving to be a major hindrance in the search.Police officials were unsure of how exactly the bus went out of control on the bridge.The bus had been dropping off students at their homes and came to the bridge late in the afternoon.Police suspect that the brakes failed on the bridge and the bus careened out of control.The driver of the bus is learnt to have surrendered but no one from the school management was available at the mishap spot.The tragedy sent shockwaves through the villages in the area with parents of schoolchildren rushing to the bridge upon learning of it.The vicinity reverberated with the anxious cries of parents trying to locate their children.Schoolbags and tiffin boxes lay scattered on the banks of the canal or floating in the water.A large crowd gathered and the police had a tough time controlling traffic on the P Gannavaram and Ravulapalem roads for hours after the accident.Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy asked the district collector to give him updates on the incident and launched a detailed inquiry into the causes of it.Collector Prasadand other officials from revenue, police and other departments rushed to the spot