Bus crashes into transformer killing four | Daily News

Bus crashes into transformer killing four

Prasad Poornamal, Puttalam District group and Mihira Wijesekara, Marawila group corr

A major road accident occurred near the Mahawewa junction on the Chilaw-Colombo Road in the wee hours of yesterday when a private bus from Vavuniya to Colombo ran off the road after colliding with a lorry and crashed into a electricity transformer killing four passengers and injuring 19 others who were admitted to the Marawila base hospital.

The transformer had broken off and fallen on to the bus following the crash severely damaging its front portion. Since electricity supply to the transformer had been interrupted with the impact of the crash a worse catastrophe had been arrested.

Officers of the Marawila Police assisted by neighbours awakened by the deafening noise heard around 4.30 am managed to rescue 19 injured passengers and despatched them to hospital within almost half an hour. However, they took more than three hours to extricate three others who had been trapped inside the mangled bus and had succumbed to injuries by that time.

An eyewitness said the bus was driven at an excessive speed and the driver may have lost control resulting in the accident. Two of the dead had been identified. They are Warnakulasuriya Antony Namal Randika (40) of Gangewadiya and Shiron Sanjeewa (42) of Mangala Eliya.

Marawila Police said the bus had a two member driver crew, one of them had been at the wheel from Vavuniya to Puttalam and the other had taken over the wheel at Puttalam.

Both drivers were injured and hospitalised. One other injured person died on admission to Marawila hospital. Two of the injured were later transferred to Colombo National Hospital in a critical condition. The post mortem examinations into the deaths were due to be held at the Marawila hospital yesterday.

Marawila Police is investigating.

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Four killed in Marawila accident - (11:10)

Four died and 19 others have been injured in a transformer-bus collision that occurred on Chilaw-Puttalam main road.

According to the police, a  private bus from Vavuniya had veered off the road and collided with a transformer.

The accident had taken place when the bus driver had attempted to overtake other vehicles.

The injured persons had been admitted to the Chilaw and Marawila hospitals for immediate treatment.

The reason for the accident has not been identified yet.

Marawila police are investigating.


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