Friday, February 21, 2020

19 killed, 25 injured after truck jumps median, rams bus in TN
‘Driver Dozed Off At Wheel, Lost Control’

Subburaj.A@timesgroup.com

Coimbatore:21.02.2020

Nineteen people, including a bus driver and five women, were killed and 25 other injured when a container truck rammed a Kerala Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus near Tirupur in Tamil Nadu early on Thursday.

Police said the bus with 48 passengers collided with the truck at 3.40am near Avinashi in Tirupur district on Avinashi-Salem bypass road. The Garuda Volvo bus was on its way to Ernakulam from Bengaluru. The container truck carrying 25 tonnes of floor tiles was going to Bengaluru from Kochi. According to police, truck driver K A Hemaraj, 37, from Kollathumkundil at Ottapalam near Palakkad, dozed off and lost control of the vehicle. The truck hit the 30-cm-high median and crossed over to the other side of the lane. In the impact the container got detached and tore down the right side of the bus, killing most people seated on the side.

Survivors were trapped as the front portion of the bus was completely mangled in the collision. Passing motorists informed the Tirupur city police who rushed to the spot. Fire and rescue services personnel started rescue work with the public joining them in breaking open the glass panes of the bus and helping passengers come out.


DEADLY CRASH: The container got detached after the truck hit the median, crossed to the other lane and ripped the right side of the bus | P 7

Kerala to give ₹10 lakh each to families of dead

Tirupur collector K Vijayakarthikeyan said a regional transport officer inquiry has been ordered as two reasons were given for the accident — the driver was asleep and burst of truck tyres. The Kerala government, meanwhile, has announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh each to the bereaved families, and ₹30 lakh each to KSRTC employees under staff insurance scheme. Condition of 25 injured passengers admitted to various hospitals is set to be stable. P7

Truck driver lost control of vehicle after dozing off

The bodies were sent to the Avinashi Government Hospital and then to the Tirupur Government Hospital for postmortem. Rescue work was completed around 8.30 am. Police had blocked the stretch on the Avinashi-Salem NHAI road and diverted vehicles.

With the help of two earth movers, the bus was taken to a spot and 3 km away. The public were seen at the spot clicking photographs.

Tirupur city police commissioner Sanjay Kumar said the truck driver who was arrested by the Tamil Nadu police said he had dozed off and lost control of the vehicle. The rear tyres were damaged after they hit the centre median.

The container truck driver was booked under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.

V K Sreekandan, Palakkad MP, D Balamurali, Palakkad collector, G Shiva Vikaram, Palakkad superintendent of police, and other police officials were at the accident spot coordinating the rescue work.

Kerala transport minister A K Saseendran and agriculture minister V S Sunilkumar visited the spot and consoled relatives of the deceased. The transport minister announced a solatium of ₹10 lakh to the family of each passenger and ₹30 lakh each to the drivers.

Officials from the regional transport office visited the accident spot and checked the KSRTC bus and the container truck.

Following the postmortem, the bodies were handed over to the family members.

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