Police say bus was travelling through central hilly region of Kotmale when driver lost control
\n COLOMBO
\nAn overcrowded bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims crashed into a precipice in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing 15 and injuring at least 30, local police said.
\nAmong the worst road accidents in the country in decades, the state-owned bus was travelling through the central hilly region of Kotmale when the driver lost control and it veered off a cliffside road before dawn, police said.
\nIt was carrying around 70 passengers \u2014 about 20 more than its capacity \u2014 police said, adding that an investigation was underway.
\n\u201cWe are trying to establish whether it was a mechanical failure or if the driver fell asleep at the wheel,\u201d a local police official told AFP by telephone.
\n\u201cFifteen people have died and we have sent 30 to hospital,\u201d who were mostly Buddhists, added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
\nThe bus was travelling from the pilgrim town of Kataragama in the island\u2019s deep south to the central city of Kurunegala, a distance of about 250 kilometres (155 miles).
\nSri Lanka records an average of 3,000 road fatalities annually, making the island\u2019s roads among the most dangerous in the world.
\nSunday\u2019s bus accident was one of the worst in Sri Lanka since April 2005, when a driver attempted to beat a train at a level crossing in the town of Polgahawela. The bus driver escaped with minor injuries, but 37 passengers were killed.
\nIn March 2021, 13 passengers and the driver of a privately owned bus died when the vehicle crashed into a precipice in Passara, about 100 kilometres east of the scene of the accident on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Police say bus was travelling through central hilly region of Kotmale when driver lost control COLOMBO An overcrowded bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims crashed into a precipice in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing 15 and injuring at least 30, local police said. Among the worst road accidents in the country in decades, the state-owned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-477781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n