Two arrested as dozens killed in bus-train collision

Police arrested the driver and conductor of a bus which collided with a train today, as it dashed through a railway crossing in Sri Lanka, killing at least 35 people and injuring another 60.

The passenger bus, apparently racing another bus, slipped past a warning gate and tried to cross a railroad track at Polgahawela, a small town surrounded by farming villages about 50 miles north-east of the capital, Colombo.

The bus burst into flames and was reduced to a mangled heap of metal. Open suitcases and passengers’ clothes were strewn around the scene. Witnesses said some people jumped out of windows, and some were ablaze.

Hospital and police officials said 35 people died.

Sixty people were injured in the incident, said area Police Chief Asoka Ratnaweera.

Most of the injured were taken to nearby hospitals. Thirteen others, including a 10-year-old, had serious head and chest injuries and were rushed to the National Hospital in Colombo, said the hospital’s director, Hector Weerasinghe.

“Ten are in critical condition,” he said.

All the victims were aboard the bus, which the train dragged for about 100 metres after the collision.

Railway employee EM Jayaratna said the automatic warning gate had closed as the train was approaching.

“There were other vehicles waiting, but this bus overtook them and came near the gate,” he said. “They thought they would manage to speed up and cross, but it did not happen.”

“Our initial investigation suggests that two buses were competing with each other to reach Colombo faster,” said police spokesman Rienzie Perera.

Both the driver and conductor were arrested today, after authorities found them at a local hospital. Police were guarding them against angry survivors. Earlier, police had speculated that both had fled the scene

Transport Minister Felix Perera, after visiting the crash site, said: “We can clearly say the fault lies with the driver and conductor of the bus.”

Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga in a statement said she was “shocked and saddened,” by the incident.

“Initial reports ... (show) this was the fault of an errant private bus crew which defied traffic rules,” Kumaratunga said, adding that she had directed the transportation minister to submit a detailed report on the incident.

There are more than 900 such crossings in Sri Lanka. Drivers often race through crossings ahead of approaching trains, and accidents are common, though not of the magnitude of today’s crash.

The train was travelling from Colombo to the city of Kandy when the accident took place. The bus was on its way to Colombo from Dambulla.

Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island country of 19 million people, has a railroad system established by British colonial rulers in 1865.

Police at first had reported 50 deaths in the accident, based on police reports filed at the scene. ”Some of the unconscious people were counted as dead,” police spokesman Perera said.