'Thoughts and prayers with bereaved families', PM condoles loss of lives in Tamil Nadu road accident

 

 

Chennai, February 20: Condoling the death of several people in an accident involving a bus and lorry in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed anguish and hoped the injured recover soon. "Extremely anguished by the bus accident. In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families", he tweeted.

 

 

"I hope those who are injured recover at the earliest," the Prime Minister's Office said in a tweet quoting Modi", he added taking to the social media. At least 20 people were killed and several were injured seriously when a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus collided with a container lorry near Tamil Nadu's Avinashi town in Tirupur district in the early hours on Thursday.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed two of his ministerial colleagues to rush to the neighbouring state to coordinate relief operations. He also directed the Palakkad district collector to take necessary steps to provide medical aid to the injured and bring back the bodies of those from Kerala, as revealed by the Chief Minister's Office.

 

 

In visuals, the right side of the white bus is seen completely mangled, the driver's area is smashed in and the damaged bus lies tilted. Initial reports noted that the tyre of the truck burst while it was in speed, and the container got detached and rolled on to the road before colliding with the bus. Rescuers at the accident site are trying to find survivors in the debris.

 

 

While Transport Minister A K Saseendran and Agriculture Minister V S Sunilkumar have been directed to rush to TN to coordinate relief operations, the CMO said that it is in regular touch with Tirupur district administration and efforts are on to identify the bodies. The Kerala government bus was heading to Thiruvananthapuram from Bengaluru on the Coimbatore- Salem highway when the accident occurred.