3 dead, 39 injured as govt bus, truck collide head-on

3 dead, 39 injured as govt bus, truck collide head-on

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Cuddalore:  09.04.2021

Three people including the driver of a TNSTC bus were killed and 39 others were injured when the bus collided head-on with a truck on Thursday near Chidambaram in Cuddalore district. A case was registered against the truck driver, who was said to be in a critical condition.

The deceased people were identified as 38-year-old D Sivakumar of Villupuram district, the bus driver, and passengers A Anbarasan, 36, and R Vairavan, 19, from Nagapattinam district.

Police said the TNSTC bus from Velankanni left for Chennai in the wee hours of Thursday. When the bus crossed Mettupalayam near Chidambaram, it collided head-on with a truck bound for Chidambaram from Cuddalore. Teh front portions of the bus and truck were completely mangled and the bus was flipped to its side in the impact.

While the three were found dead on the spot, 39 others were injured and rushed to government general hospitals in Cuddalore and Chidambaram.

A police team led by DSP (Chidambaram) T A J Lamech reached the accident spot and recovered the bodies.

The condition of the truck driver, identified as Iyyappan, was said to be critical. He was later shifted to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) in Puducherry for advanced care and was subsequently referred to a private hospital in Chennai.

The Puduchatram police registered a case against Iyyappan under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and began investigations.

BATTERED: The TNSTC bus was heading from Velankanni to Chennai