(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – Five persons were killed when a bus and a van collided head-on on the Kandy-Jaffna road in the Panikkarniravi area in the Omanthai police division last night.
The accident had occurred when a SLTB bus heading towards Jaffna had collided head-on with a van which was traveling towards it at around 7.30pm yesterday (23), police said.
At least 21 people were injured and 4 of them have succumbed to their injuries when they were admitted to the Vavuniya Hospital. Some of the injured are in critical condition, the police said.
The driver of the van was reportedly trapped in the vehicle and during the attempt to extricate the injured, the bus and the van had caught fire. The driver of the van had burned to death.
Among the dead were four men including the driver of the van and a woman. The deceased were residents of the Wellawatte area, police said.
Omanthai Police are conducting further investigations.
