TIRUVALLA: A 31-year-old man and his would-be were killed when their two-wheeler was rearended by a KSRTC bus on the MC Road at Perumthuruthy in Tiruvalla on Friday evening. James Chacko of Anjilamparambil, Piralassery, Chengannur and Ancy,27, of Venmani Pulakkadavu, Chengannur, whose marriage was agreed upon by their parents, were the deceased. Several people, who were on board the ill-fated bus en route from Kottayam to Pathanamthitta, were injured in the accident and the condition of one of them was stated to be serious.
James and Ancy were returning to Chengannur from Ettumanoor on their twowheeler when tragedy struck. According to their relatives, James accompanied Ancy to Ettumanoor for an interview. The accident occurred around 4pm after the bus first knocked down the two-wheeler travelling in front before crashing into the Emirates Opticals shop.
Though locals and fire force officials immediately swung into action and managed to pull out the couple from underneath the bus, by then they were dead. Subhash, one of the passengers hailing from Palakkad who was grievously injured in the accident, was admitted to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital.
Sajini, 22, Kozhenchery, Ashna,22, Vaikom Sreevatsathil, Haritha,25, Vazhamuttam East, Valiyamathil Suma,41, Anupama, Karunagappally,20,. Ajayakumar,47, Mini P Ajayan, 45, Lizzie Varghese,50, Anila ,23, Meera,30, Dineshan,60, Baby,44, Jinu,30, Wilson, Pampadi, Chinnu,39, Changanassery, Sadanandan,58, Tiruval la, bus driver A G Ajayakumar,38, Ajay Bhavan, Kumaranelloor, Kottayam and Wilson,40, the conductor of the bus from Pampadi, Kottayam, injured in the accident were admitted to Tiruvalla taluk hospital.
Siblings Reshma Shankar,21, and Reshmi Shankar,19, who also sustained injuries in the mishap, were admitted to the Pushpagiri Hospital here. The KSRTC bus was destroyed in the accident. Two scooters belonging to the staff of the opticals shop and the car of the owner of the nearby Trophy Mall were damaged in the accident. Vinod, inspector, Tiruvalla, said that the poor health of the driver led to the accident.