Two bus crew members were slightly injured after a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus they were travelling in overturned, when the bus driver tried to take a left turn on a slushy road on the Yelagiri Hills near Tirupattur town on Saturday. The bus did not have any passengers at the time of the accident.
Police said that bus driver R. Ezhilvendan (49), a native of Tirupattur town, was driving the government bus (route no: 250 D, Nadukuppam village-Tirupattur town) from Nadukuppam, a tribal village atop Yelagiri Hills. When he tried to take a left turn near the narrow hairpin bend on Yelagiri Main Road at the Aalamaram hamlet near Pudurnadu village, the bus overturned onto the hill slope. The incident too place around 5 a.m.
In the impact, the bus driver, and the conductor R. Thukkan (53), a native of Pudur Nadu village, were injured. A few passer-by and village residents rescued the injured bus crew and admitted them at the Government Taluk Hospital in Tirupattur town.
Based on an alert, the Tirupattur Taluk police and officials from the bus depot from Tirupattur town went to the site and recovered the bus.
An initial inquiry revealed the bus was halted at Nadukuppam village the previous night before the first service for the day was started around 4 a.m on Saturday. Heavy rains in the hills on the previous night had made the stretches wet and slushy. This might have resulted in the accident, police said. A case has been filed. Further investigations are on.
