Five persons were killed on the spot and 36 others injured when a private bus lost control, dashed against the wall of a bridge across the Thirumalairajan river at Mudikondan near Tiruvarur and fell into the river on Friday.
The bus was going from Tiruvarur to Chidambaram via Mayiladuthurai. As there was no water in the river, the bus hit the sand bed and got crushed. The five persons died on the spot. Among the deceased three were men and two women. Bodies of the two were identified and three others are yet to be identified.
The identified bodies are those of Karthi (30), driver of the bus, son of Kaliyamurthy, belonging to Vilanthirasamudram near Sirkali, and Nadhiya (20) of Koothanur village, daughter of Ramachandran, a farmer.
Police are making enquiries with the injured to know the identity of other three deceased ie one female and two male. News that three bodies are kept at Tiruvarur Medical college hospital has been falshed in local tv channels so that those who see may come and identify the bodies.
As soon as the bus fell into the river, people nearby gathered on the spot and lifted the top portion with a dozer. Later ambulances from various places came to the spot and removed the bodies and injured persons to Tiruvarur Medical College Hospital. Treatment is given to the injured at the hospital.
K.Baskaran, Tiruvarur District Collector, P. Moorthy, Superintendent of Police, Tiruvarur district, Sri Raman, Revenue Divisional Officer of Tiruvarur and other officials visited the spot.
The Collector led the rescue operations along with other officials.
Later, he visited Tiruvarur Medical College Hospital and saw the injured persons. He consoled the relatives.