Mallawaratchchi

At least 75 people including 25 students were injured when two buses collided head-on near the Pasyala junction on the Kandy-Colombo main road yesterday morning, police said.

They said the injured were rushed to the Wathupitiwala base hospital.

The collision involved a private bus plying from Mawanella to

Bus collision ...

Colombo and a private coach carrying year seven students of Horana Takshila Maha Vidyalaya on an educational trip.

Around fifty students, three teachers and a parent had been in the bus hired for the school trip. The two teachers and a large number of students had been injured in the accident and of them 17 had been admitted to hospital while the others who suffered minor injuries had been treated as outdoor patients.

This bus had been one of the four buses carrying students on the trip to the Ritigala Mountain and Dambulla.

The two drivers of the buses had been stuck into their seats by the wreckage and they were rescued by the people in the area after about 45 minutes. Another injured passenger who underwent urgent surgery had been transferred to the Gampaha Hospital.

This accident caused a huge traffic snarl on the Kandy road and the police had to divert traffic through Mirigama and Warakapola.

Police said according to initial investigations the private bus plying from Mawanella to Colombo had been travelling on the wrong side.