18 injured in pile-up

Eighteen persons were injured in a pile-up involving three vehicles on the Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road, police said today.

A Sangrur-bound state transport bus coming from Mata Chintpurni shrine in Himachal Pradesh and a truck going towards Hoshiarpur were involved in a head-on collision near village Khurampur, 6 kms from here, yesterday evening.

Another buswas also involved in the collision, they said.

A heavy machine had to be pressed into service for removing the entangled vehicles and restoring traffic, which was disrupted for a while after the accident.

Bus driver Rupinder Singh of Malerkotla, conductor Harpreet Singh of Lehragaga and truck driver Surinder Singh of Kapurthala were among the injured.They were admitted to a local hospital.
 

The driver of another truck escaped unhurt.

Bus passengers with serious injuries have been hospitalised.