Five Students Among Nine Dead In Kerala Bus Crash

Palakkad: Nine people, including five students, were reported dead after a private tourist bus rear-ended a KSRTC bus in Vadakkenchery in Palakkad, Kerala, according to Kerala Road Transport Minister Antony Raju.

The minister said that while attempting to pass a car at high speed, the private bus crashed into the back of a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus at about 11.30 PM on Wednesday.

“Both the buses went off the road as a result. Nine persons, including five students and a teacher, were killed in the accident,” He informed the press.

The minister added that the initial assessment is that the private bus’s excessive speed and the driver’s recklessness contributed to the disaster.

Baselious School’s classes 10, 11, and 12 were visiting Ootty for a day trip when they were involved in an accident. 41 children, five professors, and two bus personnel were all riding in the tourist bus. The KSRTC bus carried 49 passengers. The KSRTC bus was travelling from Kottarakkara to Coimbatore.

The minister further claimed that three of the 81 people on board the KSRTC bus, which was travelling from Kottarakkara in Kerala to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, were killed in the collision.

“The speed of the bus was above 80 km/h right from the beginning. When we enquired about the same, an employee of the tourist bus said that the driver was experienced and that speed was not an issue,” Abel Philip Paul, a student was quoted as saying.

The GPS data also indicated that the tourist bus was cruising at 97.7 kmph when the tragedy occurred.

Students from Baselious School in Mulanthuruthy, Ernakulam, were on board the trip bus. They were travelling to Ootty in the Tamil Nadu state.

Sumesh, the KSRTC driver, also claimed that the tourist bus was driving too fast. “The impact of the collision was driving was so sudden that the latter spun out of control. I struggled mightily to keep the bus stable”, he added.

The incident happened close to the Anjumoorthy Mangalam bus stop on the national highway connecting Walayar and Vadakkancherry.