Kollam: At least three persons were killed and 10 others injured when a KSRTC express bus collided head-on with a lorry near Ithikkara bridge near Kottiyam here on Monday morning.
The deceased have been identified as bus conductor P.T. Subhash of Thekkeputhenpura at Thamarasseri in Kozhikode, bus driver K.P. Abdul Azeez, 47, of Malayanna in Kozhikode, and lorry driver Ganeshan, 30, hailing from Shenkotta in Tamil Nadu.
The incident took place at 7 a.m. when the Thiruvananthapuram-bound KSRTC express bus from Mananthavadi in Wayanad collided head-on with a goods lorry while exiting the Ithikkara bridge.
The lorry driver was completely stuck in the debris and it was more than an hour before he could be taken out from the wreckage.
Both the drivers later died at a private hospital nearby. Some 10 passengers were injured of which six have sustained grave injuries. They were admitted to various private hospitals nearby and the Kollam district hospital.
Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran, Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma, and KSRTC managing director Tomin J. Thachankary visited the accident spot and the injured at the hospitals.
The visuals retrieved from the CCTV installed along the Ithikkara bridge reveals the KSRTC bus went off track and collided with the lorry that was coming in the opposite direction.
According to local police, the KSRTC driver might have dozed off, causing the accident. The lorry was carrying sand dust from Tirunelveli. Most of the passengers in the bus were from Kozhikode, returning to Thiruvananthapuram after weekly holidays.
