
Five people were killed and 42 others, including children, were injured after a private bus collided head-on with a government bus in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district in the early hours of Monday, police said.
The private bus had departed from Chennai for Marthandam with a large number of passengers on board. According to Madurai police, the accident occurred on the four-lane highway near Vandinagar, close to Kottampatti, when the driver of the private bus allegedly lost control of the vehicle, crossed the median and entered the opposite lane, colliding head-on with a government bus travelling from Madurai to Tiruchirappalli.
The impact severely damaged the front portion of the private bus, while the government bus overturned. On receiving information about the accident, Kottampatti police and rescue personnel rushed to the spot and launched rescue operations to evacuate passengers trapped inside both buses.
Police said five people, including four men and one woman, died on the spot. A total of 42 people, including children, sustained serious injuries and were shifted to nearby hospitals for treatment, the police statement added. Further investigation into the incident is underway.
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