Speeding lorry rams into school bus, 4 injured

KOCHI: Two children suffered injuries when a speeding water tanker rammed into a school bus at Nettoor, near Lakeshore Hospital, on Wednesday. The bus was carrying students from Sacred Heart CMI Public School, Thevara.The tanker rear-ended the school bus when the bus slowed down to drop children. The accident occurred around 3.30 pm.Shyam Francis, 11, and Ninan, 9, suffered fractures. Allen Sam, 13, who was sitting in the back seat of the bus, banged his head on a rod in the impact of the collision. During the rescue efforts, caretaker Sini Mathew, 35, injured her head while helping the children. The driver Vamanan Naik too suffered head injuries in the collision. There were a total of 34 students in the bus at the time of the accident.According to eyewitnesses, the school bus had slowed down to alight some kids when the water tanker rear-ended it, steering it halfway off the road. The bus was partly in mid-air, as the impact of the accident  pushed the bus off the edge of the road onto the service lane.Children with minor injuries were taken home after providing first aid, said Manoharan, ASI, Gandhi Nagar Fire and Rescue Services unit.The driver of the tanker Kurian Antony, 43, was taken into custody by the Panangad police and later handed over to the Traffic Police.