1 Dead, 58 Hurt In Two Separate Bus Accidents

Tiruchy:One person was killed and 58 others were injured in two separate road accidents in Tiruchy and Ariyalur districts in the wee hours of Monday.

Police said a private omnibus, carrying 46 passengers from Marthandam, in Kanyakumari district, was proceeding to Chennai. When it was passing the Valasupatti section road, near Manapparai, in Tiruchy district, at 1.40 am, it rammed the rear of a mini lorry head of it.

In the impact, many passengers got trapped in the wreckage and screamed for help. Local residents broke the windows and rescued them through the emergency exit. They also sent them via ambulances to government and private hospitals in Manapparai.

Sirajudeen (36), a bus cleaner from Melapalayam, in Tirunelveli district, died on way to the hospital. More than 40 injured people are currently undergoing treatment at the Manapparai government hospital and local private hospitals.

Manapparai MLA Kathiravan visited the government hospital to console the victims.

The mini lorry involved in the accident was found loaded with rice sacks meant for ration shops. The crew had fled the scene. The Valanadu police are investigating the incident on the suspicion that it could be smuggled ration rice.

In another accident, 18 bus passengers were injured when the TNSTC bus they were travelling in rammed into the rear of a lorry near Varanavasi samathuvapuram, close to Ariyalur, on Monday.

Police said the bus was proceeding to Ariyalur from Pattukkottai when the mishap occurred. All the injured were admitted to the government medical college hospital in Ariyalur.

Keelapalur police registered a case and are investigating.