Nine persons, including five students, were killed in a road accident at Palakkad district in Kerala during the late hours of Wednesday.
The accident took place near Wadakkancherry when a tourist bus carrying students from a school in Ernakulam to Ooty rammed into the rear side of a KSRTC bus.
Overspeeding by the tourist bus driver, who was also overstrained, were prima facie found to be the reason for the accident. Apart from five students, a teacher and three passengers in the KSRTC bus were the others killed in the accident. Four others were seriously injured while many suffered minor injuries.
The tourist bus was carrying 42 students - all around the age of 15 - of Baselios Vidyanikethan Senior Secondary School at Vettickal in Ernakulam and five teachers apart from the bus driver and cleaner.
The prima facie information showed that the overspeeding tourist bus rammed into the rear side of the KSRTC bus, lost control and toppled into a wet land on the road side. Students who survived the accident said that the bus was overspeeding. The bus driver, who suffered only minor injuries, was also said to be overstrained.
Kerala Tourism Minister Antony Raju said that the tourist bus was found to be traveling at a speed of 97.2 kilometre per hour. The driver also did not take adequate rest after returning from another long-distance trip.