Palakkad: In an unfortunate incident, nine people died while 38 were injured after a tourist bus carrying students and staff of Baselious Vidyanikethan crashed into Kerala State Road Transport Corporation ( KSRTC ) bus in Vadakkenchery in Palakkad district on Wednesday night.
The minister said the accident occurred around 11.30 PM on Wednesday when the private bus, which was traveling at a high speed while attempting to overtake a car, hit the rear end of the KSRTC bus.
"Both the buses went off the road as a result. Nine persons, including five students and a teacher, were killed in the accident," he told the media.
The minister also said that the preliminary view was that the accident occurred due to the high speed of the private bus and the negligence of its driver.
He said the KSRTC bus was going from Kottarakkara in Kerala to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and had 81 passengers, of whom three died in the accident.
According to reports, the condition of around 12 is critical. Officials said that the death toll might rise. The tourist bus, heading to Ooty, was reportedly overspeeding.
The private bus was carrying 42 students and 5 teachers of Baselios Vidyanikethan Senior Secondary School in Ernakulam, who were on a pleasure trip.
State Local Self Government Minister M B Rajesh, who visited the hospital in Palakkad where the injured were admitted, told reporters that four of them were in serious condition, but the rest were fine.
Meanwhile, state Revenue Minister K Rajan told the media that everyone was in shock regarding what happened.
He said there will be an investigation to ascertain how and why the accident happened and strict measures would be needed to be put in place for preventing such incidents in the future.
Rajan said a cabinet meeting will be held to consider providing compensation to the families who lost loved ones in the accident and that counseling may have to be provided to the students who lost close friends and a teacher in the tragic incident.