COIMBATORE: The death toll in the Coonoor bus accident increased to nine after rescue personnel recovered a woman’s body from the gorge on Sunday. The bus fell more than 50 feet into the gorge on Saturday evening after the driver lost control of the vehicle at the ninth hairpin bend on the ghat road.
The victims were from Kadayam in Tenkasi district and they were returning home after a sightseeing trip. Around 60 people, including the driver and cleaner, were on board the bus. While eight bodies were recovered on Saturday, the body of Padmarani was found under the bus on Sunday morning by the rescue personnel.
On Sunday, Health Minister Ma Subramanian and Tourism Minister K Ramachandran met the injured people, who have been admitted to government hospitals in Ooty and Coimbatore and handed over a solatium of Rs 50,000 each to 30 people who suffered minor injuries. Two people who suffered serious injuries were given `1 lakh each. Chief Minister MK Stalin had announced a solatium of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and it will be handed over to the families soon, the ministers said.
Subramanian said the injured people were given counselling to overcome the trauma they might have suffered in the incident. The ministers called on the survivors who were accommodated in Coonoor and Ooty. They appreciated the efforts of first responders, rescuers and ambulance drivers who rushed to the accident scene as soon as it happened.
Additional Chief Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management Department S K Prabhakar and Nilgiris Collector M Aruna accompanied the ministers.
At least eight people, including four women and a 15-year-old boy, died and 49 others were injured after a tourist bus fell into a 50-foot-deep gorge near Marapallam on the Nilgiris Ghat Road around 5.45 pm on Saturday.
According to A Saravana Sundar, DIG, Coimbatore Range, at least 59 people, including the driver and the cleaner of the bus, all from Tenkasi district, were on their way back home on Saturday after a trip to Ooty when the accident happened. According to sources, when the bus was near the ninth hairpin bend on the Coonoor-Mettupalayam section of the ghat road, the driver lost control of the vehicle due to a suspected brake failure and the bus fell into the gorge. Rescue teams that reached the spot immediately, found eight people dead. Forty-nine injured were rushed to Government Hospitals in Coonoor and Mettupalayam.
PM announces Rs 2 Lakh ex-gratia
New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death on Sunday. Expressing anguish, Modi also announced an ex-gratia of `2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. Murmu wrote on X platform (formerly Twitter), “The loss of lives in a tragic bus accident in The Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu is deeply distressing. I extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.” PTI