Accident in Mount, 9 injured

18 January 2012 03:05 am

Eight school children and their van driver were injured in a head on collision of a van transporting school children to Colombo and a private bus, on Galle Road near the Odeon Cinema and the Mt. Lavinia cemetery this morning.

The van was transporting schoolchildren from Panadura to Ananda College, Nalanda College, Visaka Vidyalaya and St. Lawrence College in Colombo. The van had collided with the Moratuwa bound bus on the 155 route. The children were between 10 to 13 years of age and one of them was a girl.

The residents of the area and the Mt. Lavinia police that rushed to the scene evacuated the injured from the wreckage and rushed them to the Colombo South Hospital.

Hospital Director Dr. Anil Jasinghe said five of the children were discharged after OPD treatment while three others are in a critical condition and are currently undergoing treatment. He said the driver had sustained injuries to his head.

The eye witnesses said the van travelling at an excessive speed, collided with the bus and hit a wayside lamp post.

A senior official of the Mt. Lavinia Traffic Division said they had been in an unserviceable condition and were not fit to transport the schoolchildren.

The Traffic Division of the Mt. Lavinia police are conducting further inquiries into the incident. (Kusal Chamath)