THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Seventeen people were injured, two of them seriously, when a tourist bus carrying students of Sahrdaya Engineering College, Kodakara in Thrissur, overturned at Navayikulam near Kallambalam in Thiruvananthapuram early on Saturday. The injured were taken to Parippally Medical College.
The accident occurred around 3.30 am on the service road of the National Highway. The bus was on a study tour to Vizhinjam Port. It lost control and overturned while passing through the service road, where bypass construction work is under way.
There were 42 students, three teachers and two bus staff members on board at the time of the accident. Student Christo Paul and Assistant Professor Noel Wilson suffered serious injuries. They were initially taken to Parippally Medical College and were later shifted to a private hospital in Kollam for further treatment.
The bus overturned towards the side of a nearby house on the service road. Preliminary information suggests that the driver may have fallen asleep, causing the wheels to sink into loose soil and overturn.
Police have registered a case.