Accident site may be declared a danger zone

Collector says decision will be based on inputs from police and highways dept.

February 22, 2020 01:15 am | Updated 01:15 am IST

Following the accident on the outskirts of Tiruppur that killed 19 persons on Thursday, Tiruppur District Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan said on Friday that the district administration would soon take a call on declaring the spot as accident-prone.

“We will take a call on it in the next road safety meeting in a week or so,” Mr. Vijayakarthikeyan told The Hindu.

The decision would be taken based on inputs from the police and State Highways Department, he said.

Nineteen persons travelling by a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus were killed on NH 544 when a truck hit the central median and the 30-tonne container it was carrying fell on the bus.

Body handed over

The body of Kiran Kumar, who was one of the 19 deceased, was handed over to the relatives at the Government Hospital in Tiruppur early on Friday.

Hospital Dean A. Nirmala saidthat relatives of Kumar from Tumakuru in Karnataka received the body at around 4 a.m. Autopsy procedures for all the 19 bodies were completed by 7 p.m. on Thursday and 18 bodies were handed over to the respective families on the same day, Dr. Nirmala said.

According to Tiruppur City Police, seven people, including a boy, survived the accident without any injury.

A senior police officer told The Hindu that the police were able to confirm names of five passengers of the bus who were not admitted in any hospitals. Among the five was six-year-old Alan Sunny.

The mobile numbers of the remaining two names were not reachable by the police and are assumed to be unhurt in the accident. “Had they been hurt, they would been admitted in hospitals and would have been accounted for,” the police officer said. There were 48 passengers and two KSRTC employees (driver and driver-cum-conductor) aboard the bus at the time of the accident. Out of 50, 19 were declared dead and seven survived without any injury and 24 persons were injured, the police.

Out of danger

Palakkad District Collector D. Balamurali told The Hindu that most of the injured victims of the accident have returned to Kerala. Only seven patients were under treatment, he said. Of these, two were admitted to hospital in Tiruppur district and five in Coimbatore district. “Everybody is out of danger,” Mr. Balamurali said. However, some of the patients admitted in hospitals in Coimbatore district had to undergo surgery due to severity of the injuries, following which they could return to their homes in Kerala.

A. Hemaraj, 38, driver of the container truck that caused the accident, was remanded in judicial custody on Friday.

He was produced before the third judicial magistrate in Tiruppur District Court on Friday afternoon and was sentenced to 15 days of judicial custody, the Thirumuruganpoondi police said.

The accused was remanded at Coimbatore Central Prison.

According to the police, Hemaraj fell asleep while driving the truck.

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