20 die 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 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 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.