Carelessness of lorry driver might have caused mishap: Minister

Carelessness of the container lorry driver might have caused the mishap in which his vehicle rammed a state run KSRTC bus, killing 19 people as preliminary investigations pointed to the fact, Kerala Transport Minister A K Saseendran said in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.

"As per our preliminary reports, the accident happened as the driver lost control of the vehicle and not because of the tyre burst. The rear side of the truck has got sets of two tyres each. So even if one tyre bursts, it will not cause an accident. So the mishap might have occurred due to careless driving along the curve or because the driver fell asleep," the Minister told reporters.

The government was considering a suggestion to cancel the permit of the offending truck, he said.

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He said the state government has decided to call a meeting of the road safety authority to discuss the safety of passengers on National Highways.

"The road safety authority will meet on February 25 and discuss the safety of passengers along the highways and the transport department will look into the alleged flouting of rules by the trucks," he said.

The minister also said the department would consider making it mandatory for trucks to have two drivers.

Nineteen passengers were killed and 27 injured when a tile laden container lorry crossed into a wrong lane and rammed into the oncoming Ernakulam-bound Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus on the Salem-Kochi highway at Avinashi, 40 km from Coimbatore, around 4 am. Two passengers escaped unhurt.

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