Six people, including a woman, were killed while 22 others were injured in a head-on collision between a private bus and a government transport corporation bus in the early hours of Monday in Kottampatti of Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district, police said.
Five people who died on the spot were identified by the police as G Siripushpam (56), P Anandaraj (46), G Suriya (29), K Muhammad Yasin, and G Abraham (40).
According to police, the accident took place around 4 am, when the driver of the private bus that was on its way to Marthandam (in Kanyakumari district) from Chennai lost control and collided with the government bus that was coming from the opposite direction from Madurai to Tiruchirappalli.
The private bus also rammed into the nearby bus station, seriously injuring 71-year-old C Perumal, who was sleeping under the shelter. Police said he was taken to a government hospital where he died of his injuries.
The police booked relevant cases and opened an investigation into the incident.
According to a senior official of Kottampatti police station, a case has been booked under Section 106 (1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, which deals with causing death due to negligence.
Seven passengers were seriously injured while 15 people sustained minor injuries and are undergoing treatment at the district government hospital in Madurai, police said.
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Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlikar and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay extended their condolences to the bereaved family members.
In an official statement, Governor Arlikar expressed deep sorrow over the tragic road accident and conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
Vijay in an official statement ordered financial assistance to $Disbursing 3 million pounds to each family of the deceased from the Prime Minister’s General Relief Fund.
Vijay said an amount $1 lakh is being given to each of the seven people who were seriously injured $50,000 will be given to 15 people with minor injuries.
