Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Feb 20: In a ghastly bus accident that took place on the wee hours of Thursday, February 20 at Tirupur district of Tamil Nadu, 20 people died on the spot. The bus belonged to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) that was plying from Bengaluru to Ernakulam.

The accident occurred when a tyre of a truck with Kerala registration got burst, it jumped the divider of the road and rammed head on into the KSRTC bus that was going in the opposite direction. The exact spot of the accident is Avinashi and it is said to have occurred around 3.15 am on Thursday, February 20.

According to police sources, two to three people are still stuck in the bus and efforts are on to bring them out. SP of Tirupur confirmed that 17 bodies were found on the site of the accident and the number of injured is 22.

The bus left Bengaluru at 8 pm on Wednesday and was supposed to reach Ernakulam at 7 am on Thursday. Most of the passengers in the bus are from the state of Kerala.

According to the information given by Thajudheen, district transport officer of KSRTC Ernakulam, there were 45 passengers in the bus, out of which 25 were headed to Thrissur while the remaining 20 were going to Ernakulam and Palakkad. The conductor of the bus also perished in the accident.

The vehicle that collided with bus after jumping the divider of the road is said to be a container truck carrying tiles in it. The bodies recovered at the site of the accident are sent to post mortem.

The injured people are rushed to the hospital. More details on the injured and those who died are available on 9495099910, helpline number in Palakkad according to the information given by A K Saseendran, Kerala transport minister.

The driver of the container truck escaped from the spot after the accident.