Indian-origin cabbie charged over fatal crash in Australia

An Indian-origin taxi driver in Australia has been charged with dangerous driving causing a fatal crash in which a woman was killed and 12 people were injured.

Shepparton Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged Jatinder Panesar, 37, with one count of causing death in the Monday incident at Ardmona, ABC Online reported.

Panesar, who migrated from India to Australia in 2006, was released on bail and forced to surrender his passport.

He cannot drive or leave Victoria and will face court again on October 24.

During the incident, the driver crashed his vehicle into a mini-bus which rolled over after the collision at the intersection of Pyke and Turnbull roads in North Victoria, police said.

The bus was carrying 12 passengers while the taxi was carrying two passengers at the time of the collision.

A woman in her 80s who was on the bus died at the scene and 12 other people were injured, the police said.

Nine of the mini-bus passengers were residents at Mercy Place Shepparton while one was a staff member and two were volunteers.

--IANS

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