THOOTHUKUDI: Tragedy struck a school excursion to Kanniyakumari, as a 15-year-old fell from the school bus to death on Friday.

On Friday morning, a private school in the Thoothukudi district had arranged for 280 students to go on a one-day excursion in four private buses to popular tourist spots in the nearby Kanniyakumari district.

The school had decided to take the students to locations, including the Thiruvalluvar statue, Thotti bridge (Mathur aqueduct) and Thirparappu Falls, among others, and was scheduled to return the same evening.

After completing the trip in Kanniyakumari, the buses were travelling towards Thoothukudi in the evening.

Then, Naren Kumar (15), a Class 9 student, who was in one of the private buses, suddenly slipped and fell onto the road while the bus was passing over the Valliyur Kesavaneri four-lane flyover in Tirunelveli district, sustaining severe injuries. The 15-year-old died on impact.

On receiving information, the Valliyur police reached the spot, recovered the boy's body and sent it to Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.

A case has been registered against the private bus driver, Franklin, and an inquiry is under way.