A six-year-old schoolgirl and her uncle were killed when a tractor mounted a divider and crashed into a flower shop beside GT Road in Bardhaman on Wednesday morning, while a rickshaw puller was also injured in the incident. Police arrested the tractor driver after the crash in the Birhata Ghori More area.
The child, identified as Sohana Sultana, was a Class I student at Vidyarthi Girls School. Her uncle, Maidul Molla, lived with her in the Bahir Sarbamangala Para area under Bardhaman Sadar police station, according to police sources cited in the report.
Sohana was travelling with her uncle on a bicycle to attend a flower-related school event. They stopped near one of the flower shops along GT Road so that Molla could buy flowers for her. The child was standing beside him when the tractor reportedly crossed the divider from the opposite side and moved towards the roadside shop.
Local residents said the driver lost control of the vehicle. The tractor entered the shop and hit both Molla and Sohana. Residents rushed to the site and took the injured pair to hospital, where doctors declared them dead. The report said the tractor had also struck a rickshaw puller before entering the shop. The injured man was admitted to hospital for treatment.
The crash highlights the exposure of pedestrians, roadside shoppers and small businesses to fast-moving traffic on busy urban roads. In this case, the victims were standing beside the carriageway when the vehicle crossed the divider and reached the shopfront. The report does not provide details about the divider’s design, the road’s traffic controls or whether any other vehicle was involved.
Bardhaman Sadar police reached the accident site after receiving information and arrested the tractor driver. Police initially suspected that the driver may have been under the influence of alcohol, but the report described this as a preliminary assessment rather than a confirmed finding.
The bodies of the uncle and niece were sent for post-mortem examination. Further investigation will establish the circumstances of the crash and the basis for any charges against the driver.
