Bus crash: 20 critical

BY CHAMIKARA Weerasinghe

AROUND 60 persons were admitted to the Matale hospital on Saturday night with 20 in critical condition after a private bus carrying them had swerved off the road and fell into a ravine while negotiating a steep curve at Balakaduwa on the Colombo-Kandy road.

The accident had taken place at 8 p.m, Matale police said. The 45-year-old bus driver had been remanded yesterday by the Matale Magistrate.

Two persons who have broken their legs in the accident are serious. Among the wounded were women and children, most of whom have been referred to Kandy Hospital, sources at Matale Hospital told the Daily news.

The accident had taken place on a renowned accident-prone location on the mountain road known as the Balakaduwa bend, Matale HQI Sisira Kumara Jayasekera said. The bus heading from Kandy to Matale had about 60 passengers, said the HQI.

The bus had fallen 20 feet after skidding on the wet road as the driver tried to pull over to the left to avoid a bus and a car heading towards him without dimming their headlights, he said.

"The wheels of the bus must have swerved at this instance because the road was wet," he said.

"The driver was not drunk, according to the medical report," he said. None of the vehicles which the driver had claimed were heading towards him, crashed into the bus, the police said.