Tamil Nadu: 19 dead as container comes off truck, hits passenger bus

Chennai : More than 19 people have been killed and a few others have been trapped under the debris of a bus in which they were travelling in after a container came off a truck and struck with the bus coming from the opposite side on a highway in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore, the police said. 

23 injured people have been shifted to the nearby hospitals.

The Kerala government-run Volvo bus that can seat over 50 people was going to Ernakulam from Bengaluru in Karnataka, state Transport Minister AK Saseendran told reporters.

Since there are people still trapped in the debris it is likely that the death toll may rise further.

In visuals, the right side of the white bus is seen completely mangled, the driver's area is smashed in and the damaged bus lies tilted.

According to information in some of the media reports, it has been learned that the tyre of the container truck bursted, resulting in container getting off from it and hitting the bus coming from opposite side.

The driver of the truck that was coming from Coimbatore is on the run, the police said.

"All possible relief measures will be taken in cooperation with the government of Tamil Nadu and the District Collector of Tirupur," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office said.