Tamil Nadu road mishap toll rises to 16

MADURAI: Three more persons, injured in a bus-lorry collision near here, died at a hospital, taking the toll in the accident to 16 today, police said.

While 13 persons were killed and 27 injured when the state-run transport corporation bus and a cement-laden lorry collided at T Kallupatti yesterday, three seriously injured succumbed at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) here today, they said.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar, Cooperatives Minister Sellur K Raju and Transport Minister Thangamani visited the injured at the hospital and asked the officials to provide them the best treatment.

Vijayabaskar told reporters that a special team of doctors had been formed to attend to the injured.

He also instructed the officials to complete post-mortem formalities and arrange for vehicles to take the bodies to the victims' home towns.

Drivers of the two vehicles and 14 passengers died in the mishap, police said.

Initial investigation showed that most of the victims died after being trapped under the cement bags which fell on them after the lorry overturned following the collision.

Some passengers had raised an alarm seeing the lorry which was coming in the opposite direction swaying on the road, but the bus driver was helpless as he had little space to manoeuvre, police said.