One dead, 25 injured in bus-lorry collision at Warakapola

One person was killed and 25 commuters injured in a collision between a lorry and a bus which was on its way from Vavuniya to Colombo on Saturday in Thulhiriya on the Warakapolakurunegala main road, the Warakapola Police said.

They said the deceased was the lorry driver whom they identified as Nekath Henalage Saman Kumara (33) a father of four children and a resident of Ihalakalalapitiya village in Maharachchimulla, Alawwa while those injured are residents of Alawwa, Polgahawela, Potuhera, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura and Vavuniya.

The police said the drivers of the two buses which were racing each other were injured and admitted to the Warakapola Base Hospital.

They were to be produced in the Thulhiriya Magistrate’s Court while the postmortem examination would be held in Warakapola Base Hospital.

Investigations are being conducted by Warakapola Police Traffic OIC Inspector Sarath Jayasekera, Police Sergeants Jayasinghe (23792), Keerthirtne (27342) Ajith (30921), Wickramaratna (34590) and PC Dias (38198), PC Ratnasiri (48788) and PC Herath (75301) on the instructions of Warakapola Police OIC Chief Inspector H.H. Jayakantha.