Bus mows down 2 at Thrissur stand

Thrissur: Two visually challenged persons were crushed to death when a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus lost control and ploughed on to the waiting platform at its Thrissur terminus on Sunday morning.

The dead were identified as Vinod (31) and Ratheesh (29) belonging to Pattambi and Cherpulassery, respectively, in Palakkad district.

They were waiting at the bus stand on their way to attend a meeting of the Kerala Cricket Association for the Blind in Kerala (CABK) in Kochi.

Nearly 10 people present there ran away as the Volvo AC low-floor bus lost control and ploughed on to the platform while the visually challenged persons remained there.

Eyewitnesses said the bus, running on the Thrissur-Palakkad route, stopped after smashing the office of the station master.

Ratheesh is the son of Unnikrishnan of Kunnaseril House at Neallyi near Cherpullasery while Vinod belonged to Nirapparambil House, Pallipuram near Pattambi.

Assistant commissioner of police (Thrissur) Siva Vikram said a case was registered against Hamza, driver of the bus, under section 304 (A) for causing death due to negligent driving.

“We are examining the cause of the accident. Preliminary reports suggest that the bus was not having any mechanical fault,” he told DC. “A detailed examination will be held”.

CABK general secretary Rajaneesh Henry said Vinod and Ratheesh, earlier members of the cricket team, were engaged in the administrative matters of blind cricketers in Palakkad and they were to attend the annual general meeting in Kochi.

The body of Ratheesh was handed over to the relatives after post-mortem while the post-mortem of Vinod's body will be held on Monday as his relatives came to know about the tragedy only late in the evening.