Twenty schoolchildren on an excursion trip to Morni in Panchkula were injured as the bus they were travelling in lost control after a reported brake failure and hit the side waĺl on Sunday morning.Around 50 children who had come to visit Morni from Mahendragarh, Narnaul and Palwal districts were left shaken and the school bus badly damaged.A police team led by Morni in-charge Jagdish Kumar and locals rushed to the spot. The children were brought to Panchkula Civil Hospital for first aid.Bus driver Narendra Singh said a major accident was averted after the brakes of the bus failed and the vehicle lost çontrol. He swerved the vehicle to one side and hit a wall in a bid to prevent the vehicle from falling into the gorge.Locals said the children had come in two buses for an excursion and were on their way back when the accident took place as the brakes failed at a sharp turn near Thapli.Frequent accidents are reported on this stretch as the terrain is hilly with sharp turns.“Bus drivers and passengers should be sensitised before the start of the journey ànd made aware of the topography and fitness of the vehicle, by traffic police,” said a Chañdigarh-based road safety expert.Past incidentsOctober 19, 2024: A tourist bus with students from Nankana Sahib School, Malerkotla, Punjab, fell into a 100-ft-deep gorge near Tikkar Tal. As many as 23 people were injured, including 19 students.November 21, 2023: A bus from Guru Nanak Public School, Ludhiana, visiting Tikkar Tal, lost control as brakes failed on the hilly route. The driver steered the bus into a tree. Seven children and 2 women teachers were injured.