Bihar school bus carrying children drives over a burning tire as a mob blocks the road during Bharat Bandh.
A school bus in Gopalganj, Bihar, nearly caught fire after driving over a burning tire on a road blocked for the Bharat Bandh, with children on board.
Arpit Pattnaik
A school bus in Bihar's Gopalganj nearly caught fire after driving over a burning tire on a road blocked by Bharat bandh protesters. The police and district administration intervened on time and prevented the incident.
People had gathered in the area as part of the Bharat bandh called by Dalit and adivasi groups against a recent Supreme Court order on reservation for scheduled castes.
In a video, a yellow bus can be seen surrounded by a mob armed with sticks. A man was seen burning a tire right under the bus. The road the bus was on had been blocked with several burning tires scattered around.
While initial reports claimed that the mob had attacked the bus and tried to set it on fire, the Gopalganj Police clarified that though people protesting had burned tires and blocked the road, they did not attempt to burn the bus.
The bus drove over one of the burning tires on the crowded road which caused the near-fatal accident.
