Colombo: A crowded bus transported dozens of Buddhist pilgrims crashed into a precipice in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing 15 and wounding at least 30, the local police said.
Among the worst traffic accidents in the country in decades, the state bus was traveling through the central region of Kotmale when the driver lost control and deviated from a cliff road before dawn, police said.
He had about 70 passengers, about 20 more than his capacity, police said, added that an investigation was underway.
“We are trying to establish whether it was a mechanical failure or if the driver fell apart,” said a local police officer to AFP by phone.
“Fifteen people have died and we have sent 30 to the hospital”, which were mostly Buddhists, added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The bus was traveling from the pilgrim city of Kataragama, on the south of the island, to the central city of Kurunegala, at a distance of approximately 250 kilometers (155 miles).
Sri Lanka records an average of 3,000 road deaths annually, which makes the island’s roads among the most dangerous in the world.
Sunday’s bus accident was one of the worst in Sri Lanka since April 2005, when a driver tried to beat a train at a level crossing in the city of Polgahawela. The bus driver escaped with minor injuries, but 37 passengers were killed.
In March 2021, 13 passengers and the driver of a private property died when the vehicle crashed into a precipice in Passara, about 100 kilometers east of the accident scene on Sunday.
