Head-on collision on A9 highway leaves 27 injured

At least 27 passengers were injured in a head-on collision between a private bus and an SLTB bus last morning at Dimbulgamuwa in Mahawela on the Kandy-jaffna Road (A9 highway). The injured were admitted to Nalanda and Matale General Hospitals.

Police said 13 of them were admitted to the Matale General Hospital and others including the SLTB bus driver to the Nalanda Hospital.

A spokesman for the Nalanda Hospital said 14 passengers had been hospitalised and four of them were transferred to the Matale General Hospital in critical condition.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses said the speeding private bus rammed into the SLTB bus.

However, preliminary investigations revealed that a

Preliminary investigations revealed that a majority of passengers in the SLTB bus were schoolchildren and five of them had sustained injuries

majority of passengers in the SLTB bus were schoolchildren and five of them had sustained injuries.

Police said the private bus driver was taken into custody pending further action.

Traffic Branch OIC Senior Inspector Gamini Wijekoon, SI Wijesiri and PC 51917 Bandara are conducting further investigations on the instructions of Mahawela Police OIC Chief Inspector Lakmal Wijesiri.