Driver shouted no brakes : Survivor

• Conductor also screamed that the brakes were not functioning
• Says she was thrown out of a broken shutter and fell on a bush

By Prasad Rukmal and Sumanasiri Gunatilleka

The driver of the ill-fated bus in Ella shouted there were no brakes in the vehicle, followed by the conductor, a survivor said yesterday.

“The driver shouted initially, and then the conductor screamed that the brakes were not functioning. He instructed us to hold fast and bend down. Just then, the bus crashed against the side railing fence twice and rolled down the precipice. I was thrown out of a broken window and fell on a bush. 

I saw a little child lying nearby and a woman screaming for help,” Management Assistant of Tangalle Urban Council Madushani Munasinghe (35), who survived the fatal bus accident at Ella on Thursday night, said. She was a resident of Kudahilala in Beliatta and the organiser of the tour. She was among those injured in the accident and was admitted to Badulla Teaching Hospital. Narrating her gruesome experience, one passenger who identified himself as Ishara said that about 31 passengers, including several employees of the Urban Council and the members of their families, were on board the ill-fated bus.

“We started our journey from Tangalle at about 3.30 am and reached Rawanaella Falls where we had our breakfast. We visited the Adisham Bungalow at Haputale and proceeded to Bambaraella. Nuwara Eliya, Seetha Eliya, We were on our way back through Welimada, Bandarawela, Kumbalwella on the Ella – Wellawaya main highway when we met with the accident. The rescue teams, including the police and the army, descended the precipice and rushed the injured to the hospital. Our bus was nowhere to be seen. Later, I understood several of our friends had died. Everything happened in a flash, and we had no time to think what was happening,” he said.