COIMBATORE: Two students were killed, and another sustained serious injuries in separate accidents involving school vans, with a Class 3 girl dying in Yercaud and an engineering student losing his life near Bhavani in Erode district.
In Yercaud, an eight-year-old girl studying Class 3 at a government primary school in Mundagampadi died after being run over by a private school van. The deceased Menaka, daughter of Krishnan and Rasathi from Vazhavanthi, used to go by a private van to school.
After alighting from the van, the girl moved in front of the vehicle. However, the van driver, Ranganathan, failed to notice and ran over her. She suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to GH in Yercaud, but she died on the way. The Yercaud police sent the body for a post-mortem and arrested the driver.
In a separate incident, a 19-year-old engineering college student died, and his friend was seriously injured after their two-wheeler collided with a private school bus near Bhavani. Police said S Panneerselvam and his friend S Nandheesh Raj, both aged 19 and studying second year computer science at a private college in Namakkal, were heading to college on a bike, which collided with a private school bus in Anthiyur.
As a result, both were thrown off their two-wheeler. They were rushed to GH in Bhavani and then to Erode GH. However, Panneerselvam succumbed to injuries while another student was undergoing treatment. The Bhavani police have registered a case.
In Coimbatore, a private bus from Tiruppur to Coimbatore overturned near Neelambur on Friday morning, leaving 29 passengers injured and causing major traffic disruption in the area. The injured passengers were admitted to nearby private hospitals.