Chennai: A bike rider was killed and 22 passengers on board a state-run bus were injured after the bus veered off its lane, jumped the median and knocked down a 35-year old executive of a private construction firm before plunging nose-first into a 20-ft deep roadside drain, on Tuesday evening. The accident sparked a traffic pile-up for about an hour on both the lanes.
The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus of Villupuram division left for Kallakurichi from CMBT with 15 passengers at 3 pm. The bus driver Kannan (38), of Kallakurichi, picked up more passengers en route and the bus had about 30 passengers on board when it passed the tollgate. Since it was an open road with no exit ramps for the next 20 km until Perungalathur, the driver was speeding on the highway even though it was raining heavily.
At around 3.45 pm, the bus driver attempted to overtake a lorry ahead of him after the bus had covered about 4 km from the Porur tollgate. The driver lost control and veered off his lane, climbed onto the median and entered the opposing lane on which it ran over the motorist identified as Balamurugan. The bus moved on before crashing into the parapet and plunging into the roadside pit built as a storm water drain.
The other road users pulled over and rushed to rescue the passengers trapped in the bus stuck in the pit. Some alerted the emergency services, and cops. The injured were rushed to different hospitals in the city. As many as 22, including 6 women and 2 children, were injured and four of them were admitted to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMCH) and another four at Chromepet G.H while 14 others got themselves treated in private hospitals in Vanagaram and adjoining areas.
Poonamallee Police had registered a case and are investigating. Cops suspect the rains coupled with overspeeding could have led to the mishap.
