Five passengers were killed and four were injured and admitted to the Colombo National Hospital for treatment when a robarosia tree growing on a banyan tree fell on a passenger bus on the Duplication Road near the Liberty Roundabout in Colpetty yesterday (6) morning.
All five passengers who died in this accident are males and they have been identified as Aruna Fernando, a resident of Welisara, H. M. S. B. Ratnayake, a resident of Matale, Balakrishnan Sivakumar, a resident of Peliyagoda and U. S. Priyaranjana and D. A. Chathuranga.
The grieving relatives at the National Hospital mortuary. Picture by Gayan Pushpika
Around 17 passengers had been traveling in the bus when the accident occurred. The hospital Police said that the identity of three of the five dead passengers has been confirmed. Relatives of three persons had come to the Colombo National Hospital mortuary yesterday evening (6) to identify the bodies and the relatives of two of the deceased had not arrived by yesterday evening (6). One of the four who received treatment yesterday (6) was discharged and had left.
Hospital sources say that the condition of the remaining three is not serious. The bus NC-0741 belonging to Mathugama depot belonging to Sri Lanka Transport Board had met with this accident. When the tree fell on the bus, the bus split into two and was bent in half.
The bus had been traveling from Colombo to Mathugama when the accident happened at around 6.15 am. The bus which had left Deniyaya at 1.30 am had arrived at the Bastian Mawatha bus station and then left to return to the Mathugama depot at 5.45 am when it met with this accident.The accident happened about 20 minutes after starting the journey from Fort. When the tree fell, the bus had stopped near the tree and was ready to pick up passengers. The tree fell on the bus a few seconds after the bus stopped at that place. Due to the fact that not many passengers were traveling in the bus when the accident took place, the number of casualties has been reduced. If not, the Security Forces said that there would have been a huge accident.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that all the dead people had been sitting in seats inside the bus where the trunk of the tree had fallen on to it. When some passengers saw the tree falling on the bus, they had run away from the bus but some people remained stuck inside the bus. Security Forces and other officials had to make great efforts to get the people out of the bus, even the sides of the bus had to be cut and removed. Security Forces as well as Colombo Municipality employees and fire service officers were seen working swiftly to remove the tree that had fallen on the bus, within a few hours and to allow traffic movement on the road as soon as possible.The driver and conductor of the bus were interrogated by the Kollupitiya Police. Kollupitiya Police is investigating the accident.
—————————
Remove risky trees on roadways – State Minister
Defence State Minister Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon yesterday directed the authorities to take immediate action to remove roadside trees at risk of falling. Tennakoon has directed officials of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) to coordinate with the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Road Development Authority (RDA) and local authority bodies and carry out an immediate study of large roadside trees at risk of falling due to the prevailing wet conditions and remove any which may pose a threat to the public. The State Minister reacting to an incident of a tree falling on a bus in Kollupitiya yesterday morning (6) issued directions to relevant officials to take immediate preventive measures and remove potential roadside trees at risk of falling.
—————————–
Rs.500,000 compensation for each family
The government has decided to grant a compensation of Rs.500,000 to each of the families of the victims who lost their lives in the accident that occurred near the Liberty roundabout in Kollupitiya yesterday morning.
The President’s Media Division (PMD) said President Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued directives to his Secretary Saman Ekanayaka to facilitate a compensation of Rs.500,000 to each of the families of those who lost their lives in the accident.
