20 die in in TN bus tragedy; survivors shell-shocked

A road crash in Tamil Nadu early Thursday left 20 dead and 28 injured as a lorry collided

with their bus reducing it to a mangled heap. Police said the accident occurred on the Salem-Kochi

highway at Avinashi in Tirupur around 4 am as the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus was proceeding to

Ernakulam from Bengaluru. Tirupur is located about 450 km from here.

Most of the passengers were asleep when the lorry crashed into the bus.

The lorry driver, Ernakulam native Hemaraj, was arrested later.

The tiles-laden container lorry's tyre burst and it entered the wrong lane colliding with the bus, reducing the

vehicle to a mangled heap, police said. The 20, including six women, died at the scene while the

injured were admitted to hospitals in Tirupur and some referred to Coimbatore, police said.

Palakkad Superintendent of Police Siva Vikram said "It was a high speed collision. The container lorry went out

of control." The accident came as a shock to many in the state since

one of such a magnitude has not happened in Tamil Nadu in the recent past.

There were 48 passengers on board the bus. The lorry suffered a tyre burst before colliding with

the KSRTC bus, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said in the state Assembly, adding, all the victims were Keralites.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Palaniswami, and Kerala Chief Minister

Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the deaths. "Extremely anguished by the bus accident...In this

hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families. I hope those who are injured recover at the

earliest," the PM's Office said in a tweet quoting Modi. Though reports initially suggested the bus was proceeding

towards Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, officials later clarified its destination was Ernakulam.

Palaniswami said he has asked the Tirupur administration to coordinate with their Palakkad counterparts, to expedite

activities including sending the bodies of the deceased to Kerala.

Further, 23 people were seriously injured and were undergoing treatment while five others sustained simple

injuries and were proceeding to Kerala, he said. "I have directed the Tirupur collector and police

officials there to set up a help centre to assist the relatives of the victims and also expedite the process of

sending the bodies of the deceased by contacting Kerala officials," he said.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayan deputed his cabinet colleagues--Transport Minister A K Saseendran and Agriculture

Minister V S Sunilkumar, to Tirupur to coordinate relief operations, his office said.

The Kerala delegation later arrived in Tirupur. Saseendran, Sunilkumar, Palakkad MP V K Sreekandan, and

Alathur MP Ramya Haridas besides MLAs from Kerala are camping at Tirupur.

"The state government will provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the bereaved families, Rs two lakh will be given

within a week. The rest of the amount will be given following the procedures," Saseendran said.

"The families of the KSRTC employees will be given Rs 30 lakh each under the insurance scheme," he added.

The state government has also declared that it will take care of the medical expenses of the injured passengers.

The health department has sent ambulances to Tirupur to bring back the bodies.

The accident left the survivors shell-shocked. Karishma, on her way to Ernakulam, said she was seated

on the left side of the bus and was sleeping when the accident occurred.

"When I woke up suddenly, I saw many people running around and the injured being taken in ambulances," the

woman told the media. Alan, also from Kerala, said he was still finding it

difficult to overcome the shock. "I have sustained a minor injury on my leg. But my

friend is injured on the nose and I am taking him to hospital," he said.

Jemin George, an injured passenger, said he suffered a cut on his lips and an injury to his forehead that required 10

stitches. "I do not know what exactly happened. I was sleeping

in a seat behind the driver's seat," he said, adding, he was referred to a hospital in Coimbatore.

A weeping woman passenger alleged the container lorry was overloaded and there were not many vehicles on the road.

She said the right side of the bus was damaged.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)