21 injured in two separate accidents in Talawakelle

Twenty one persons were injured i n t wo separate accidents involving a bowser, a private bus, a trishaw and a car in Talawakelle yesterday

In one incident a bowser and a private bus collided on the Talawakelle-Nuwara Eliya main road injuring 18 people, while in the other, a three wheeler carrying three persons who were on their way to visit the site of the accident crashed against a motor car injuring another three. The injured had been warded at the Lindula and Kandy hospitals.

Sources revealed that the bowser was carrying 13,200 litres of Diesel from the Kotagala Petroleum Corporation fuel stores complex on its way to Nuwara Eliya had collided head-on with a private bus plying from Nuwara Eliya to Talawakelle yesterday around noon. It is believed that the private bus had been driven very fast and the impact had caused the bowser to veer off from the road. Action had been taken to transfer the diesel from the damaged bowser to another.

The seriously injured driver of the bowser who was admitted to the Nuwara Eliya hospital had been later transferred to the Kandy teaching hospital for further treatment. Among the injured passengers of the bus there had been two small children. This accident had happened on the Talawakelle-Nuwara Eliya main road near Logie estate. A three-wheeler carrying three persons who had been on their way to visit the scene of the accident had collided with a motor car, injuring three persons including a small child, whose condition was reported as serious. With the heavy rains now being experienced in the hill country, the police had warned drivers to be extra careful while driving on the Nuwara Eliya-Hatton and the Colombo main roads.