One killed, 25 injured as bus plunges into Jaffna sea

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 June 2005, 17:11 GMT]
Ms Mylvaganam Pushparanee, (51) died, twenty-five received serious injuries and another fifty sustained minor injuries when a bus returning with full load of passengers from Kurikadduwan jetty to Jaffna town went off the road and plunged into the sea Tuesday evening around 5.30 p.m. Passengers were returning from attending the Nagapooshani Amman chariot festival Temple held Tuesday morning, Jaffna Police said.

The accident took place when the bus from Kurikadduwan jetty was attempting to give way to another vehicle on the Pungudutivu brigde.

Several sections of Pungudutivu Bridge are in a state of disrepair, sources said.

Of the 25 seriously injured the condition of four were reported critical and eight have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

Among the injured five are females, sources said.

Volunteers of the Sri Lanka Red Cross in Jaffna who rushed to the site and rescued the injured and transported them to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, sources said.