Bhopal: Nearly 45 people died, when a private bus with more than 50 passengers plunged into a canal near Sarda Patna village at around 08:00am on Tuesday. The bus plunged into the canal which draws water from the Ban Sagar Dam that supplies water to UP and Bihar.

While 37 bodies have been retrieved from the bus, seven more bodies were retrieved from the canal. One woman, who was rescued, died in the hospital. Six more people were rescued or swam to safety. Among the dead was a four-year-old child. Sixteen young women who died in the tragedy were heading to Satna district to appear in the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife exam.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced Rs 5 lakh assistance to the kin of each of the deceased. A sum of Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia each to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured has been announced out of the PM Relief Fund, official sources said. While maintaining that those found wanting in the mishap won’t be spared, the CM said two ministers, including cabinet minister Tulsi Silawat and minister of state Ram Khelawan Patel, have been sent to the accident site from Bhopal for taking stock of the situation at Ground Zero.