Three persons died and 33 were injured when a Kerala Road Transport Corporation Superfast bus they were travelling in lost control and plunged off a bridge near Angamaly about 15 feet into a ditch in the early hours of Tuesday.
The six injured were admitted to the Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly, and their condition was serious, sources said.
The deceased were identified as Murugan (40), from Pazhani, Tamil Nadu; Mahipal (44) from ESI Road, Kochi and Marian Cruz (58), from Fort Kochi.
The seriously injured, some with severe head injuries, included Vikas (38), identified as hailing from Orissa; Ananthu (12) and Vishnu (17), children of Mahipal; and his wife Usha. The others with serious injuries are
Anil Kumar (38) from Chemberi and Sunil Kumar.
The bodies of the dead were taken initially to the Little Flower Hospital were later shifted to the Government Hospital, Angamaly, for post-mortem.
Hospital sources said most of the bus passengers sustained minor injuries and only 14 — six with serious injuries — were under treatment. The seriously injured need major surgeries.
Among the injured were Jayakumar from Cherthala and his four-year-old daughter Dwaraka; Maheswaran and Susan from Tamil Nadu; Kathiravan and Mathamma from Coimbatore.
The bus from Coimbatore was bound for Thiruvananthapuram when the accident occurred on the bridge near Transformers and Electricals Kerala (Telk) on National Highway 47.
Minister for Transport Jose Thettayil, who was in Angamaly, visited the accident spot and oversaw rescue operations. The bus, which turned on its back after it plunged off the road was lifted with the help of a crane.
The Minister has ordered the Managing Director of KSRTC to enquire into the accident.
