Three Killed in Bus-Lorry Collision

TIRUCHY: Three persons were killed and five injured when a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus rammed into a stationary lorry loaded with iron rods at Thuvarankurichi in Manapparai near here.The accident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday when the bus bound for Madurai was nearing the TNSTC depot at Thuvarankurichi, sources said.  The bus driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle and dashed into the parked lorry. The iron rods protruding from the lorry broke through the windshield of the bus and pierced into the bodies of the passengers sitting in front.The dead were identified as Meenakshisundaram (35), the bus conductor, and two passengers —Lalitha (45) of Trivandrum and Kaliyamurthy (62) of Virudhunagar. The injured — Sasiyu (20), Deepa (15), Eshwaran (16), Nagaraj (40) and Kutralingam (29) — were taken to the Tiruchy Government Hospital.Sasiyu and Deepa are children of Lalitha who died in the accident, while Eshwaran belonged to Ramanatha­puram and Nagaraj hailed from Rajapalayam.Thuvarankurichi Inspector Suriliyaandi visited the accident spot and conducted investigations.Bus driver Mohammad Hanifa (35) of Melur in Madurai was arrested.  In a twist of fate, Meenakshisundaram had actually been relieved from duty on Tuesday. When he was about to leave for home, the officials had asked him to continue for the next trip, which turned out to be his last.