|
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A passenger bus skidded off a cliff in
Sri Lanka’s tea-growing hill country on Sunday, killing 21
people and injuring 35 others, a police spokesman said.
The accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday near the town
of Kotmale, about 140 kilometers (86 miles) east of Colombo, the
capital, in a mountainous area of central Sri Lanka, police
said.
Police spokesman Buddhika Manathunga said 21 people died and
another 35 were being treated in hospitals.
Local television showed the bus lying overturned at the bottom
of a precipice while workers and others helped remove injured
people from the rubble.
The driver was injured and among those admitted to the hospital
for treatment. At the time of the accident, nearly 50 people
were traveling on the bus.
Manathunga said police launched an investigation to ascertain
whether the driver's recklessness or a technical fault of the
bus caused the accident.
The bus was operated by a state-run bus company, police said.
Deadly bus accidents are common in Sri Lanka, especially in the
mountainous regions, often due to reckless driving and poorly
maintained and narrow roads.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
