Two students from Bengaluru are among the 19 persons who were killed after a Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus collided with a container lorry near Avinashi in Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu in the early hours on Thursday.
Kiran Kumar M S (21) a resident of Coconut Garden in Nagarabhavi was going to meet his uncle at Ernakulam. Kiran completed BCom and preparing for MBA. His father T V Manikantan is a businessman who had settled in Karnataka. Kiran, who was travelling in the ill-fated bus, has no siblings.
Sitting beside him was Manasi Manikandan (21) another passenger who was killed in the accident. A daughter of Biji Manikandan and P V Manikandan, a businessman and resident of Nagarabhavi area. Born and brought up in Bengaluru, she too was the only child.
Speaking to DH, Manasi’s mother Biju said Manasi had studied and completed her undergraduate degree and got admission for MBA at Christ College. She was going to her friend's house in Kochi.
While it was suspected that both the deceased knew each other, members of Manasi’s family said they were not aware of Kiran Kumar.
Soon after hearing about the accidents, the family members called the transport corporation's control room and rushed to hospital to collect the body after postmortem. At the time of writing, the bodies were being transported to the city.