Seven killed as car collides with bus in Nilamel

KOLLAM: Seven people, including four women, were killed when their Toyota Qualis car collided with a KSRTC bus at Nilamel in the district today. All those killed were travelling in the car and are natives of Bharathannur in Thiruvananthapuram.

Those deceased were identified as Ajith Kumar (36), his wife Suneesha (30), their son Amal Sunder (4), Ajith Kumar’s mother Vijayamma (65), Suneesha’s mother Usha Kumari (65) and wife of Ajith Kumar’s brother Rajendran, Rugmini Amma (45).

The tragedy struck the family while returning home in the car after reaching Thiruvananthapuram in the wee hours by train from Mookambika, a temple town in Karnataka.

Twenty-five people, most of them passengers of the bus, were injured in the mishap and they were admitted to hospital and the condition of two of them was serious.

The bodies of the victims were extricated from the mangled car by police and local people. The deceased included the driver of the car, police said.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy visited the accident spot and expressed grief at the loss of life caused by the accident.