An elderly couple was killed and 17 others were injured when a van collided with a tourist bus at Mudappallur, near Vadakkanchery, in the district on Sunday. Four of the injured were in critical condition.
The deceased were identified as Pailee Chambakkad, 75, and wife Rosily, 65, from Cherthala. They were passengers in the tempo traveller van. Twelve of the injured were van passengers, and the other five were bus passengers.
The injured van passengers were Baiju, 50, Prince, 31, Jasiya, 16, Varghese, 57, Jesy, 50, Shoji, 36, Manu, 12, Prasanna, 43, Kunhumol, 34, Varsha, 24, Minnu, 7, and driver Akhil, 32. All of them were from Arthungal, Cherthala. The condition of Varghese, Jesy, Prasanna and Akhil was serious.
The injured passengers of the tourist bus were Louli, 39, Sajini, 49, Santha, 60, Kunhumol, 60, and Abhishek, 20.
They were admitted to Avitis Institute of Medical Sciences, Nenmara. The tourist bus was heading from Thiruvalla to Palani. The van was coming from Velankanni to Alappuzha.
The police said the tourist bus slipped off the road when it applied brakes at a curve and collided with the van.
