Six people, including a bystander, died and 22 others were injured after a private omnibus collided head-on with a state transport corporation bus early on Monday in Madurai district, police said.
A senior police officer said the incident occurred near Kottampatti at around 4 am. The driver of the private bus, which was on its way to Marthandam in Kanyakumari district from Chennai, lost control of the vehicle and hit the government bus that was coming in the opposite direction from Madurai to Tiruchirappalli.
The deceased were identified as P Anandaraj (46), G Surya (29) and K Mohammed Yasin, passengers on the government bus, J Siripushpam (56) and J Abraham (40), passengers on the private bus, and C Perumal (71), who was sleeping under a bus stop which the private bus barrelled into before coming to a halt. Police have registered a case over the matter and the probe was underway, they said.
Those injured were rushed to the district government hospital in Madurai, where seven were under treatment for serious injuries, said police
{{/usCountry}}Those injured were rushed to the district government hospital in Madurai, where seven were under treatment for serious injuries, said police
{{/usCountry}}In an official release, state governor Arlekar expressed his condolences and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured.
Chief minister C Joseph Vijay in an official release, announced that families of those killed would receive ₹3 lakh each under the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund. Those with serious injuries were entitled to a sum of ₹1 lakh each, and those with minor injuries would receive ₹50,000 each.