The accident of the Bengaluru-Ernakulam Volvo bus with a lorry in the wee hours of Thursday has left at least 19 people dead. The accident that happened in Coimbatore’s Avinashi saw the lorry carrying tiles, which was coming from the opposite direction, ram into the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus. According to initial reports, the lorry hit the median and the container it was carrying detached and fell on the bus.
The death toll from the tragedy stands at 19 now with several others having sustained injuries. The injured have been taken to Coimbatore Medical College and other nearby hospitals. The Tiruppur District Collector and Palakkad Collectorate are working together to conduct autopsies and provide care to the injured.
While the authorities are in the process of identifying the deceased in the accident, 11 deceased have been identified so far:
1. Gireesh (43)
2. Baiju (47)
3. Ignis Raphael (39)
4. Kiran Kumar (33)
5. Hannish (25)
6. Sivakumar (35)
7. Ragesh (35)
8. Jismon Shaju (24)
9. Naseef Mohammed Ali (24)
10. Iswarya
11. Roshana (Palakkad)
12. Gopika TG
13. Manasi Manikandan
14. Rosily
Here is a list of those injured.
1. Jemin George (26) – Son of Jose Varghese, Thelliyaur, Kerala
2. Akil (25) – Son of Ahamed, Trichur, Kerala
3. Jordin Xavier (38) – Son of PV Xavier, Palakkad, Kerala
4. Avil (25) – Son of Aagamathu, Trichur, Kerala
5. Jaimine Jorse - Kerala
6. Sona Sunny (29) – Wife of Sunny, Palakadu, Kerala
7. Jordin (35) – Son of Sevaiyar, Palakkad, Kerala
8. Kamancy (41) – Son of Stephen Rubera, Thrissur, Kerala
9. Nibin Baby (28) – Son of Baby Kokkat, Thrissur
10. Vinath (48) – Son of Ragavan, Thrissur, Kerala
11. Christo (25) – Son of Firance, Thrissur, Kerala
12. Razhim (40) – Son of Ramju, Edakochi, Kerala
13. Malavadu (44) – Son of Aravind Malavad, Badami, Karnataka
14. Devi Kanga (26) – Wife of Prabu Lachand, Cochin, Kerala
15. Pravin (41) – Son of Vijayan, Thiruvaniyar, Kottayam, Kerala
16. Ramachandran (34) – Son of Radhakrishnan, Irinjalakuda, Kerala
17. Ignathius Thomas (19) – Son of loyson, Bengaluru, Karnataka
18. Mariyappan (25) – Son of Kanthasamy, Thenkasi, Tamil Nadu
19. Mathusoothanavarma (42) – Son of Ramavarma, Thrissur, Kerala
20. Jijen Mohandass (35) – Son of Mohandass, Thrissur, Kerala
21. Ramachandran (35) – Son of Radhakrishnan, Manappandu, Irunchilankadu
22. Mariappan (25) – Son of Kandasamy, Thenkasi, Tamil Nadu
23. Sri Lakshmi (25) – Daughter of Haridassan, Thrissur, Kerala
An unidentified woman aged 25 years has also been reported injured and has been referred to the General Hospital in Tiruppur.
Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) Loknath Behera has said that the relatives of the deceased should immediately contact Palakkad Superintendent of Police (SP) Siva Vikram. The SP can be reached at 9497996977, 9497990090 and 9497962891.
A team of police personnel headed by the SP are present at Avinashi.
Both the Tamil Nadu DGP and the Coimbatore City Police Commissioner have assured Behera that they will take action to speed up the post mortem procedures and bring the dead bodies immediately to Kerala.
As directed by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Minister of Agriculture VS Sivakumar and Minister for Transport AK Saseendran have left for Tirupur. The CM had asked them to leave immediately to coordinate relief work.