City witnesses shocking mishap at Thampanoor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a tragic incident which shook the city on Thursday, a KSRTC bus ran into pedestrians near the Thampanoor Sree Thampurankavu Siddhi Vinayaka Temple killing one youth and injuring four others seriously. The accident occurred around 9.25 am when the bus belonging to the Pappanamcode depot sped into the footpath, mowing down the pedestrians. The bus was heading towards Thachottukavu from East Fort. The deceased was identified as Ranju, 23, of Panayamuttom, Nedumangad. The condition of the injured, Pramosh of Nellimoodu, Balan of Malayinkeezhu and Abhijith and Rajan of Vellayani who were admitted to Medical College Hospital is stated to be critical. According to witnesses, the bus was overspeeding. The bus driver steered the bus further right to avoid a crash with an autorickshaw which was coming in the opposite direction. The bus which lost control crossed the road  and rammed into the elevated footpath. Only after knocking down the pedestrians, an electric post and the front wall of the temple did it come to a halt. The passengers from the nearby bus depot, auto drivers and police officials rushed to the spot and carried out rescue operations. Local people alleged that rash driving had resulted in the catastrophe. It is learnt that driver has given a statement that the braking system had failed leading to the mishap. But Traffic Police officials said that the details of technical flaws can be revealed only after the officials of the Motor Vehicle Department examine the bus. Meanwhile, a major mishap was averted as the two morning trains scheduled to reach the Central Railway station were running late by a few minutes. Gopal, a lottery vendor who had a narrow escape, said that unlike other days, the crowd on the footpath was relatively less, thereby limiting the casualty. Transport Minister V S Sivakumar visited the accident spot. He said that an enquiry would be conducted to reveal what went wrong. He also promised that providing financial assistance to the victims would be considered with due importance.