A student of the Thurstan college who was in the bus that was involved in Friday’s accident in Nanu Oya where seven people were killed told the ‘Daily News’ that the driver of the bus was driving at high speed while ignoring pleas from the students to reduce speed. “We shouted and pleaded with him to go slow, but he continued to drive at high speed,” he said.
The student said as he was in one of the the front rows of the bus and he did not see it colliding with the van and the trishaw, but his friends who were in the back had seen the van thrown forward for several metres after colliding with the bus.
Another student meanwhile said the bus seemed to have gathered speed while going down the slope of the road despite having a number of bends.
He said as the bus hit the van, students who were in the back seats of the bus were thrown forward. He said it was close to 7.30 p.m. when the accident happened and as it was dark he did not see the bus hitting the van but heard a loud noise.
He said after the bus toppled down the precipice, students who were unconscious were carried up to the road by students who were not injured with the help of the villagers.The student said he had only minor injuries and had called his father immediately after the accident and urged him to call health officials for help.Meanwhile, the driver of the bus has been remanded until February 1 after being produced in Courts.
Seven people died and 51 others were injured after the bus carrying school students collided with a van, and a three-wheeler and fell down a precipice on the Nuwara Eliya-Nanu Oya Radella short cut.
The bus carrying a group of Grade 11 students of Thurstan College, Colombo was returning to Colombo after a trip. It collided head-on with the van travelling from Dik-Oya to Nuwara Eliya with a group of the same family.Along with those two vehicles, a three-wheeler was also involved in the accident.The van was almost completely destroyed in the accident and the bus fell about 100 feet down the cliff. The bus and the three-wheeler were also severely damaged.Six people who were travelling in the van and one person who was travelling in the three-wheeler died in the accident.Three women and two children were among the dead.At the time of the accident, nearly 47 people including a large number of students were travelling in the bus, and 41 students were injured.
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