Bus accident in Sri Lanka: Russians injured
In the south of Sri Lanka there was a road accident in which Russian tourists were injured. A bus going on a tour collided with a cement truck, as a result of which the driver died on the spot. According to various reports, suffered from 12 to 19 people. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Accident with a bus in Sri Lanka: what is known
January 17 in the south of Sri Lanka collided cement truck and a bus. As a result of the accident, the bus driver and the guide died on the spot, at least 12 tourists from Russia were injured. This was reported on January 17 by the publication Ada Derana.
"A bus carrying a group of foreign tourists collided with a truck carrying cement on the Southern Expressway this morning (January 17. - "Izvestia"). As a result, the bus driver was killed and about 19 tourists were injured," the media outlet wrote. Later it became known that 12 of them were hospitalized.
In addition, according to eyewitnesses, it is reported about the death of the guide. As one of the tourists told the publication KP-Novosibirsk, the accident occurred early in the morning, about 06:00. "Our tourists were traveling there, Novosibirskers were not among them, they were from other cities in Russia. The driver and the guide immediately on the spot died, the rest are all hospitalized," - said an eyewitness named Alexei.
It is specified that the tourists were going on an excursion, organized by a local company.
The accident occurred between Beliatte and Aparekka in the direction of Tangalle. The bus at high speed crashed into the back of a truck. The injured were hospitalized at the Tangalle Base Hospital.
According to Ada Derana, there were about 30 Russians on the bus at the time of the accident.
The cause of the accident of the bus with Russian tourists in Sri Lanka could be its driver, who may have fallen asleep at the wheel. This is reported by TV channel "360" with reference to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) . This version is currently being checked, said the interlocutor of the agency.
Official comments from the Sri Lankan authorities have not yet been received.
Condition of Russian tourists after the accident in Sri Lanka
Two Russian tourists are in serious condition, the head of the press service of the Russian Embassy in the republic German Fedorov told TASS. A total of 12 people were injured, he said.
Most of them were hospitalized with closed head injuries, bruises and cuts, four of them presumably have fractures.
Fedorov noted that tomorrow, January 18, the head of the consular section of the Embassy will go to the hospital in Tangalle to visit the injured Russians.
The condition of the bus after the accident was caught on the cameras of eyewitnesses. The footage shows that the front part of the tourist bus was damaged and the windshield was completely broken. The seats in the cabin of the vehicle are torn off. Also around the bus scattered things of tourists and spare parts from the transport.
According to police data , more than 12,000 people will die in road accidents in Sri Lanka between 2020 and 2024, Xinhua reports.
In response to the growing number of accidents involving buses, Sri Lankan authorities have stepped up legal action against those violating traffic rules on passenger buses.
Other accidents with Russian tourists
Recall, on October 9, 2024 in the resort town of Fethiye in the south-west of Turkey overturned a bus with 11 tourists from Russia. The incident occurred due to the fact that the driver of the vehicle allegedly failed to cope with the management. The injured refused to be hospitalized on the spot, but on their return home, many of them sought help from doctors.
A bus accident in the resort town of Fethiye. October 9, 2024
Earlier, on October 5, two buses collided in Turkey's Antalya, leaving 12 people injured.
In addition, on January 2, 2025 in Thailand, a tourist bus with Russians suddenly lost control, overcorrected and crashed into the back of a passenger car. As a result of the accident, 27 people were injured.
