Driver reverses, bus plunges on the road to Nelligala

A bus carrying pilgrims to the Nelligala Temple overturned on a 60-foot slope about 200 meters away   from the temple, and 32 injured passengers were admitted to Kandy and Peradeniya hospitals, police said. The accident had happened on Saturday around 1.30 pm and 26 injured people have been admitted to Peradeniya Teaching Hospital and six people have been admitted to Kandy National Hospital. Police said that the bus was carrying a group of members of the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Society of Moratuwa Indibedda. The bus had reportedly toppled when the driver had tried to change gears while climbing the steep hill leading to the temple.

The driver had reportedly stopped the bus after seeing another bus coming in the opposite direction as there was no room for two buses to pass and had changed the gears to reverse the bus. But the bus had gone backwards at a speed as the driver lost control and had toppled into the precipice, police said.