In a gruesome accident, four persons, including a woman passenger and the crew of a private bus, were charred to death and 10 others sustained injuries when the bus rammed a concrete-mixer lorry at Ulundurpet near here in the early hours of Friday.
The accident happened when the Tiruchi-bound bus from Chennai carrying 40 passengers went out of control and rammed the lorry from behind at Pudiyaidangal near Ulundurpet.
In the impact, the bus and lorry burst into flames.
The fire engulfed the vehicles, killing the bus driver Alexander, 59, of Alanganallur; second driver Sakthivel, 58, of Madurai; Monisha, 25, of Aruppukottai; and lorry driver Murugan, 55, of Madurai. The other passengers in the bus escaped through the emergency exit and by breaking open the window panes.
On information, Fire and Rescue Services personnel retrieved the bodies from the vehicle. The injured, including Kesavan, 30, Thiagu, 28, Vaidehi, 51, Selvanayagi, 60, and Tamil Selvan, 29, were shifted to the Ulundurpet Government Hospital.
Five fire tenders from Villupuram and Ulundurpet rushed to the spot and it took more than an hour to put out the blaze. The private bus and lorry were completely gutted.
Buses collide
In another accident, a woman passenger died and 15 others were injured when a State Transport Corporation bus and a private bus collided in Ariyalur district on Thursday.
The government bus was on its way to Kumbakonam from Chennai, when the private bus crashed head-on ínto it, along the Jayamkondam-Kumbakonam road.
