Twelve passengers of a State Express Transport Corporation bus sustained injuries after the vehicle overturned near Periya Nemmeli on the East Coast Road near Mamallapuram in the early hours of Sunday.
According to police, the mishap took place around 2 a.m. when the coastal belt between Kovalam and Kalpakkam was experiencing intermittent rain. The vehicle was proceeding towards Nagapattinam from Chennai.
The bus driver might have driven the vehicle off the road due to poor visibility, the police said. When a team of policemen from Mamallapuram rushed to the spot, they found the passengers trapped in the vehicle, which had fallen on its right side. As the front windshield glass was broken, the passengers could be rescued.
Ambulances from “108 emergency services” and private hospitals were called and 12 passengers were shifted to various hospitals on the southern outskirts of Chennai and at Kelambakkam for first aid treatment.
A complaint from Sampath of Mumbai, a passenger, was obtained by the Mamallapuram police as they were not able to locate either the driver or the conductor, police said.
Two cranes were pressed into service to lift the overturned vehicle. One of the cranes got trapped in the mud which delayed removal of the bus, police added.
Meanwhile, enquiries with the SETC authorities revealed that the bus was driven by Arumugam of Nagapattinam with Illangovan of Nagapattinam as its conductor. The bus heading for Vedaranyam from Chennai via Puduchery, Cuddalore and Nagapattinam left the Chennai Koyambedu Mofussil Bus Terminus at 12-15 a.m, sources said.
