COLOMBO : The Cabinet has agreed to provide financial assistance to the families of the victims of the recent collision involving a bus, a van and a three-wheeler in Nuwara Eliya.
Accordingly, the decision has been taken on the advice of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Seven persons were killed while 53 others sustained injuries on Friday (20 Jan.), when a bus fell down a 100-foot precipice on the Radella – Nuwara Eliya Shortcut Road, after colliding with a van and a three-wheeler.
All six persons travelling in the van, including the driver, and the driver of the three-wheeler died on the spot, while 53 passengers including students in the bus sustained injuries.
The five persons travelling in the van are reportedly related, while three children aged 8, 12 and 19 are also among the deceased.
The bus, which was en route to Colombo, was one of seven such buses that had been transporting a group of students of Thurstan College, Colombo, who were on an educational tour in Nuwara Eliya.
Reports revealed that 53 passengers – including teachers, parents and 41 students of Grade 11 – were inside the bus at the time of the accident.
The Shortcut Road in question was previously closed for heavy vehicles, however, heave vehicles began using the road once again after it was carpeted and built properly.
Thus, measures are now being taken to once again ban heavy vehicles on the Radella Shortcut Road, Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat Nandana Galaboda stated.
