Six killed as bus bumps into stationary truck

NAMAKKAL: Six persons, including three women, were killed, when a Coimbatore-bound TNSTC bus from Salem bumped against a stationary lorry at in Komarapalayamduring the wee hours of Thursday. Fifteen others were injured in the accident.The bus (registration number TN 74 N1548), with 57 passengers, was headings towards Coimbatore from Salem when the accident occurred at 4.45 am. On information, police and fire and rescue service personnel rushed to the accident site  and brought out those trapped inside the bus as its left side was completely mangled in the impact. A senior police officer said conductor K Rajan (53) of Perundurai, Erode, Veerasamy (50) and his wife Murugammal (40) of Veeraganur, Salem, S Jothi (19) of Pennagaram, Dharmapuri, S Sangeetha (25) of Sitheri, Cuddalore and an unidentified elderly man were killed on the spot. The injured were shifted to the Erode GH and private hospitals.The injured include the bus driver Pradeep (28), Ceylone Meena (57), Subramanian (54), Masilamani (22), Maria Selvam (42), Johnson (15), Manimegalai (24), Amsavalli (21), Kuppan (20), Suresh (21), Murugan (19) and Gunasekaran (40).A police team led and fire and rescue service personnel, including  Bavani Station Fire Officer Palanisamy with the help of the locals, supported by cranes and other rescue vehicles, were involved in the relief work.“I was travelling with my brother Suresh and sister-in-law Jothi on the bus. A loud sound woke us up and we saw the bus ramming into the lorry. Everyone was screaming. We couldn’t see much as it was dark,” said Murugan, one of the injured. The police have filed a case. Collector J Kumaragurubharan and other officials visited the site.