Bus dips 300 feet into precipice when driver is engaged in telephone call ... 2 dead, 63 hospitalised!

A tremendous disaster was reported of an incident where a CTB bus plying to Dolosbage from Nawalapitiya last afternoon (5) fell into a precipice of 300 feet.

The said bus was being driven in a hilly environment with several bends on its route and the driver concerned had been using one of his hands on the steering wheel while his other hand held the mobile
phone to his ear paying scant attention to the risk at hand, all the time with his mind focused elsewhere at a moment when the vehicle was heading towards a precipice. Though he had applied his brakes instantly when the bus was racing towards the precipice, he had not been able to maintain the balance and thus the bus had been on its way into a precipice of about 300 feet. 

2 persons lost their lives in the process while almost 63 passengers suffered injuries. The two dead are a 54 year old male called Thyagaraja and a 57 year old female by the name of Pakyasothi. Hospital sources say that among the injured are 17 students, 20 females and 26 males. Most passengers in the bus who expressed their opinions about the accident remarked that young drivers are engaged in dialogues via their mobile phones neglecting safety of the passengers while in the process of driving, which then was the cause of this tragic accident too.