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Five killed in bus accident

By Our Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM Dec. 29. Five persons, including two girls, lost their lives and more than 50 persons injured, seven of them seriously, when the private bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge nearly 100 feet deep, near Neryamangalam on the Kochi-Madurai Highway on Sunday morning. The bus was coming from Mamlakandom in Idukki district to Kothamangalam and was jampacked with passengers.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver, who is reported to be handicapped, lost control of the speeding private bus, `Nellickal', when it hit heaped granite on one side and failed to negotiate a curve, into a gorge on the other side. The accident occurred at 8 a.m.

According to police, the same bus had been involved in another accident a few months back. Police said they were looking into the possibility of carelessness on the part of the driver. Local people had complained that the bus had been over-speeding, which had caused the accident.

The persons who have lost their lives are Jospeh (50), Kannattukunnel, Mamalakandom; Kunju (55) Maramattathil House, Erattupetta; Manju (16), daughter of Ramachandran, Purakkadaveedu, Mamalakandom, Surya (15) of Panamblan House, and Mohanan of Kollammavukudi House, Mamalakandom. Two of them died on the spot. All five were declared brought dead to the Baselious Hospital, Kothamangalam.

Thirty one of the injured have been admitted to the same hospital and the condition of some of them is said to be serious. Many are in the intensive care unit. The other injured have been admitted to the St Joseph's Hospital, Kothamangalam.

Among those who visited the spot include Rajesh Kumar Sinha, District Collector, Idukki and the SP. The bus is yet to be recovered from the gorge because of the steep terrain into which it fell.

Assistance to victims

Meanwhile, the State Government today announced an assistance of Rs. 10,000 each to the immediate relatives of those killed in the bus accident at Neriyamangalam. The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, the Public Works Minister, M. K. Muneer, and the Revenue Minister, K. M. Mani, expressed their grief over the mishap.

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