KDU bus accident: Death toll rises to 3 as another student dies

Another student has reportedly succumbed to injuries sustained in the fatal bus accident that occurred on November 01 in Badulla, increasing the death toll to three. 

The 24 year-old victim, Kayilanathan Sinthujan, was a resident of Kantharmadam, Jaffna and has passed away today (23) while receiving treatment at the University Hospital KDU (UHKDU). 

A former student of Jaffna Hindu College, he had sat for the G.C.E. Advanced Level (A/L) examination under the stream of Physical Science (Maths).

The incident on November 01 had claimed the lives of two individuals and injured 39 others when a bus carrying over 40 passengers toppled on Dunhinda Road in Badulla.

Among the deceased were two female students of the Southern Campus of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU). The students had been traveling on a field trip when the bus hit a curb and overturned.

Post-mortem examinations later revealed that both female students, aged 23, died due to severe head injuries. One victim, Isuri Umayangana, was a resident of Pahalakanda, Tholangamuwa in Nivithigala, while the other, N.M.P.T. Hettimulla, hailed from Unakolagedara, Kurunegala.

According to reports, the accident occurred around 7:45 a.m. on November 01 near the third and fourth-kilometer markers on the Badulla-Mahiyanganaya main road, close to the Dunhinda access road. Police suspect the bus may have collided with an embankment due to a brake failure, although investigations are ongoing.

The group traveling on the ill-fated bus included 41 individuals—two army personnel, five instructors, and students. They were on their way to a field inspection after staying at the Uva Management Development Institute.

It had been revealed before the court on November 05 that the bus driver involved in the recent fatal bus accident previously had his driving license suspended for 05 months after being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.  

He had previously been arrested on August 04 by police in the Labuduwa area of Galle, within the Akmeemana police jurisdiction, after causing an accident involving the bus he was driving and a motorcycle.

The details of the incident were presented Nov 5 in a motion by the Akmeemana Police to the Galle Additional Magistrate’s Court. 

The driver, identified as a resident of Dammala area of Udugama, had allegedly falsely reported his license missing to Hiniduma Police following the suspension of his license and had subsequently obtained a replacement driving license. 

Taking this information into account, Galle Additional Magistrate Lakmini Vidanagamage ordered that the driving license currently in the possession of the suspect be withheld and placed in judicial custody.