10 injured as bus falls into ditch near Chittar

PATHANAMTHITTA: Not less than 10 people were injured, one of them seriously, when a private bus fell into a deep ditch on the wayside at Oorampara, near Chittar, on Wednesday. According to the police, the seriously injured passenger, Vasu, 61, of Ambedkar colony at Malayalappuzha, has been rushed to Government Medical College, Kottayam, for advanced medical care, after administering him first aid at Pathanamthitta General Hospital.

The bus driver, Sujith, 25, from Puthuppally, near Kottayam, was found trapped beneath the bus and it took about an hour for rescuing him by lifting the vehicle with the help of two earth-movers (JCB) brought from a nearby granite quarry. The other injured have been identified as bus conductor Harikumar, 50; Raseena, 29, of Chittar; Annamma, 80, Umaiba Beevi, and Aneesh, 31, all from Seethathode; Savithri, 41, from Angamoozhy; Joseph Chacko, 55; and Sosamma Abraham. All were rushed to various hospitals in Pathanamthitta and Kozhencherry, the police said. The accident occurred when the bus gave way for a lorry.