Schoolchildren’s excursion ends in tragedy:

12 dead, 45 injured in train-bus collision

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Twelve people died and 45 persons including schoolchildren travelling in a private bus proceeding towards Polonnaruwa were seriously injured in the bus-train collision at Manampitiya yesterday. Pic: Gamini Obesekara, Polonnaruwa Special corr.

A train ploughed into a bus packed with schoolchildren on an excursion killing twelve of them and maiming several others at Manampitiya in the Batticaloa area yesterday.

Twelve people died and 45 persons including schoolchildren travelling in a private bus proceeding towards Polonnaruwa were seriously injured in the bus-train collision at Manampitiya.

The tragedy occurred at the Manampitiya level crossing yesterday morning around 7.45 Police Media Spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunesekera told the Sunday Observer.

SSP Polonnaruwa Jayantha Wickremasinghe told the Sunday Observer that the bus had crept through the railway gate which was closed at the time when the train ploughed into the bus dragging it nearly 250 metres.

Those injured were admitted to the Walachchi and Polonnaruwa hospitals, the SSP said. A relative of a passenger of the ill-fated bus told the Sunday Observer that young schoolgirls from Valaichchenai were on an excursion when the tragedy occurred. They had also carried a gas cylinder in the bus for cooking purposes. Following the collision the bus was engulfed in flames, the relative said.

According to the Police Media Spokesman five schoolgirls, five women and two males died in the tragedy while several others sustained serious injuries.

SSP Polonnaruwa Jayantha Wickremasinghe has instructed OIC Welikande Police to conduct investigations on the fatal accident.