ELECTION 99
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

19 killed in Kerala bus accident

Nineteen persons, including five women and five children, were killed and more than 90 were injured, several of them badly, when an overcrowded private bus plunged into a canal at Poredam near Chadayamangalam in Kollam district of Kerala today.

Police said two persons died on the spot, while 17 others died of their wounds at the Trivandrum Medical College Hospital and the Sree Uthradom Thirunal Hospital in the state capital. Fourteen bodies have been identified so far.

Chief Minister E K Nayanar ordered an inquiry by the state transport commissioner into the accident, one of the worst road accidents in the district.

Seventy-four persons were admitted to the TMCH while others were admitted to the Anchal and Kadakkal hospitals.

Doctors attending on them said the condition of several of the injured was critical as most had suffered head injuries under the impact of the fall into the canal from a height of about 20 feet.

Gopi, the driver of the bus that was plying between Punalur and Varkala, told United News of India at the TMCH that he heard a loud noise from below the bus just before it entered the narrow bridge and he suddenly lost control.

The approach road to the Kalladathanni bridge, about 60km from Trivandrum, was poorly maintained, he said.

But one of the passengers, Salimuddin, said the bus was overcrowded and there were more than 100 passengers in it at the time. Besides, the driver was speeding since he was behind schedule.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report