At least 20 people, including five women, were killed when a Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus, on its way from Bengaluru to Kochi, collided with a truck at Avinashi in Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu.
The horrific accident took place at around 3.30 am in the wee hours of Thursday on the national highway connecting Bengaluru with Kochi that passes through Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur district officials said that the container lorry which was coming from the opposite direction lost control after a tyre burst and rammed into the Volvo bus.
The collision was so strong that one part of the bus is completely mangled, and horrifying pictures of the accident were shared widely on the social media.
Very sad news: 16 + people feared dead in a collision between a kerala bus and a truck near Avinashi town of Tirupur district. The bodies have been taken to Tirupur government hospital. More details awaited. #tirupur pic.twitter.com/cSbq1rQS2D
— K.S (@sathiyanaathan) February 20, 2020
“We recovered 20 bodies from the mangled bus. All bodies have been shifted to Tiruppur Government Hospital. Couple of the injured are critical and efforts are on to provide best possible treatment to them,” Tiruppur District Collector K Vijay Karthikeyan told DH.
He said five passengers, who suffered slight injuries, left the hospital after first aid, while a few others are recuperating at private hospitals in and around Tiruppur. The district collector also announced a helpline number (0) 7708331194 (Alagarasan) for friends and relatives of passengers who travelled in the bus for any information on the accident.
Sources said that District Collector of Palakkad in Kerala has rushed to Tiruppur to coordinate with the district administration in the knitwear hub to send bodies to respective town and cities.
Most of the passengers on the 48-seater bus are said to be from Kerala.