Heart rending scenes were witnessed at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Medical College here on Wednesday morning as the relatives identified the bodies of those killed in the ghastly bus accident near Samayapuram on the Tiruchi - Chennai National Highway on Tuesday night.
Nine persons including two women were killed and 15 others injured in the accident. The identities of all victims had been established and most of them hailed from southern districts of the State.
The victims of those killed in the accident were identified as T. Kodeeshwari of Kilpauk in Chennai, her son Raj (11), G. Vinoth (28) of South Puzhi Mangalam in Tirunelveli district, R. Annammal (34) of Samayapuram in Tiruchi district, K. Manoj (22) of Nagercoil, G. Tennish Headmet (30) of Kanyakumari, P. Subeen (23) of Madampakkam in Chennai, N. Hari Ganesh (19) of Sindu Poondurai in Tirunelveli district and J. Anto Sanju (20) of Agastheeshwaram in Kanyakumari district.
Except Anto Sanju, bodies of other victims were handed over to their relatives, who thronged in large numbers in front of the hospital, after post mortem.
Eight persons of the family of Thirumal were travelling in the bus. While Kodeeshwari wife of Thirumal and her son Raj were killed, six others suffered grievous injuries. Thirumal, running a grocery shop at Kilpaulk, was going to Nasareth with his family to take part in a religious festival.
One of the victims Annammal, who was a nun, was killed minutes before she was to alight at Samayapuram to reach her home at Pallividai.
The injured were being treated at the MGMGH and a private hospital in Tiruchi. Majority of them were responding to the treatment well.
Meanwhile, P. Thangamani, Minister for Transport, T.P. Poonatchi, Minister for Khadi and Village Industries, C. Vijayabaskar, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, R. Manoharan, Government Chief Whip and K.S. Palanisamy, Collector, visited the injured at the hospitals. They also enquired about the treatment given to them.
Later, Mr. Thangamani said the government would bear the expenses of medical treatment to the injured.
CM’s solatium
Meanwhile, the State government announced Rs. 1 lakh each to the kin of nine persons killed in the Tiruchi accident.
Expressing condolences to the victims, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in a statement on Wednesday, said she had directed the hospital and district administration to ensure that the injured got proper medical attention. She also sanctioned Rs.50,000 each to the critically injured and Rs.25,000 to those who suffered simple injuries.
