49 injured, bus plunges in river bed in TN

Villuppuram, Feb 17: Forty-nine people, including the driver and conductor of a State Express Transport Corporation bus, sustained injuries when the bus plunged into a dry river bed at Chinnakallipatti in this district of Tamil Nadu today.

Police said the driver of the Chennai-bound bus from Kumbakonam lost control of the vehicle when the accident occurred.

The bus was coming on a road overbridge, when it crashed into the parapet wall, before plunging into the dry Thenpennaiyar river bed from a height of about 25 feet.

In all, 65 people were travelling in the ill-fated bus, when the incident took place.

While 37 of the injured, including the driver and conductor, were admitted to the Panruti Government Hospital, seven were admitted to the Villuppuram Government Hospital. Five others, who seriously injured, were admitted to a private hospital in Puducherry.

UNI