Tamil Nadu: 20 killed as Ernakulam-bound KSRTC volvo collides with container lorry

Twenty people, including five women, were killed, and more than 16 injured in head-on collision involving a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus and a container lorry at Avinashi near Coimbatore in the wee hours of Thursday.

The accident took place around 3:15am when the Ernakulam-bound KSRTC Garuda Volvo air-bus from Bengaluru collided with the Kerala registration lorry. The deceased have been identied as Vinod, 42, Christopher, 25, Nivin Baby and Rahim from Thrissur, and Sona Sunny from Palakkad.

The driver and the conductor are also among the dead. The injured have been admitted to Avinashi Hospital and Coimbatore District Hospital. Out of the 48 passengers onboard the bus, 25 reserved seats for Ernakulam, 19 for Thrissur and 4 for Palakkad. The Kerala registration container lorry carrying floor tiles crashed over the divider after a tyre burst and rammed into the bus, according to some eyewitnesses. “The KSRTC MD is monitoring the situation,” Kerala Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran said

The KSRTC bus number 784 had left for Bengaluru from Ernakulam on Monday and was supposed to return by Tuesday night. However, the journey was postponed to Wednesday night as there were not enough passengers.

The bus was scheduled to reach Ernakulam at 7am on Wednesday. In another accident at Tamil Nadu’s Salem, five people were killed as a tourist bus from Nepal collided with a lorry. 26 people were injured in the accident.