3 killed as bus hits tractor in Virudhunagar

Due to the ongoing bus strike there were limited number of buses and hence a lot of people were forced to commute in private buses. On Tuesday morning, a private bus from Virudhunagar to Vilathikulam in Thoothukudi district, was carrying double the capacity of passengers.

According to eyewitnesses, the bus was packed, so the college students were forced to travel on footboard. When the bus was crossing Puliampatti, the bus driver Chithiraisamy from Ramanthapuram, lost control and collided against a tractor. In the incident, the bus overturned and the tractor was dented severely.

The bus fell into a small pit and the college students, who were traveling on the footboard were struck under the bus. Policemen and fire fighters along with public managed to pull out the injured from the bus. They also recovered the dead bodies.

The deceased were identified as Mariswaran and Arunkumar, both second year students of a private polytechnic college at Arupukottai and Selvam, a painter. Also, 35 people who travelled in the bus and in the tractor, sustained injuries. They were rushed to Arupukottai GH for treatment. The bodies were also taken to Aruppukottai GH for postmortem.

Among the injured, two people were identified as Kasturi, of Thiruchuli in Virudhunagar district and Mathiazhagan of Virudhunagar. They were rushed to Madurai GR Hospital for treatment. Aruppukottai Town police have registered a case and are investigating the incident.

Due to the accident, traffic was blocked for more than two hours on the Virudhunagar-Aruppukottai road.