Three persons, including two polytechnic students, were crushed to death in a road accident after a private bus fell to its side at Puliampatti here on Wednesday morning. Thirty four persons, including 16 women, were injured.
The police identified the deceased as S. Arun Kumar (19), U. Mariselvam (19) and R. Selvam (58), all from Palavanatham.
The accident took place at around 8.30 a.m. while the bus was proceeding to Vilathikulam from Virudhunagar.
“Rash driving by the driver and poor maintenance of the private bus led to the fatal accident,” said Virudhunagar Superintendent of Police M. Rajarajan.
After inspecting the accident spot, Mr. Rajarajan said that the bus driver, M. Chithiraisamy (35) of Mustakurichi, had attempted to overtake a tipper lorry while proceeding towards Aruppukottai even as a tractor was coming close towards it from the opposite direction.
“The driver had taken a sharp turn at a high speed. Though he managed to overtake the lorry without hitting the tractor, the rear wheels of the bus along with axle got snapped and came off from the vehicle,” the SP said.
Stating that the rear wheels hit the tractor, Mr. Rajarajan said the bus driver lost balance of the speeding vehicle as it had lost its rear wheels. The vehicle skided off on the road towards the right and then fell to its left side.
Three persons, who had either stood or sat near the footboard, were thrown out of the bus before it fell down and crushed them.
“Had the bus collided with the tractor, it could have claimed more lives,” the SP said.
The clamps that held the axle with the chassis of the bus had broken due to poor maintenance. Besides, one of the four rear wheels had a fully wornout tread. The driver would be booked for rash and negligent driving, the SP said.
Mariselvam, was the only son of a farmhand. The family had high hopes on the final year diploma student, who has two sisters, said a relative Subalakshmi.
“Within a few minutes after he left home for college, the family got the call with the shocking message of his death,” she said.
