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Five on footboard of bus crushed to death

Rajesh Nair

Angry mob ransacks private buses, a lorry and a police van

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

PUBLIC WRATH: A view of the bus damaged by the public after the accident.

PUDUCHERRY: Five people travelling on the footboard of a private bus were crushed to death, when the bus slammed sideways a stationary sand-laden lorry at Thavalakuppam, near here, on Wednesday morning. Two others have been admitted at the Puducherry General Hospital in a critical condition.

The victims, from Periyakattupalayam Colony in Cuddalore district, had boarded the bus only a few meters away from the accident spot. The private bus was coming into town from Bahour when the accident happened.

Eyewitnesses said the bus was travelling at a breakneck speed when it slammed into the lorry on the left side of the road. Police said the driver appeared to have lost control, and the side rear end of the bus slammed into the lorry, as it was trying to overtake another bus, which had stopped in front of the lorry to take in passengers.

Negligent driving

A case has been registered against the driver for negligent driving and against the conductor for allowing passengers to travel on the footboard.

The Medical Superintendent of General Hospital told The Hindu that three of the victims were brought dead; two others died after reaching the hospital. All the victims had severe multiple injuries, including to the head, he said.

The five dead were casual labourers, on their way to a construction site in Puducherry.

As the news about the accident spread, angry residents of Periyakattupalayam came out in large numbers on the Puducherry-Cuddalore road and ransacked two private buses, a lorry and a police van. They also blocked the road for a few minutes to demonstrate their ire against the rash and negligent driving of private buses and lorries.

A resident of Thavalakuppam said they were even scared to walk along the sides of the road because of the rash driving and speeding by heavy vehicles. Kumar, a resident of Bahour, who was travelling in the ill-fated bus, said bus services to Cuddalore and Puducherry were inadequate during peak hours and hence the over-crowding. Of late traffic violations by private buses have become rampant and the police do not keep a close eye on such violations even after several accidents. The Hindu has carried several articles, along with photographs showing passengers travelling on footboard and rooftop, to emphasise the need to check such violations and rash driving.

With services to places en route to Cuddalore, Villupuram, Tindivanam and ECR inadequate during peak hours, people travel on footboard and rooftop even when there is enough space, because of weak enforcement of traffic rules by the police, residents say.

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Five on footboard of bus crushed to death

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