Private bus rams ambulance, container lorry injuring patient, passengers in Kochi

Private bus rear-ends ambulance, hits lorry injuring 17; traffic jammed for hours near DP World, Vypeen. Driver booked.

A private bus rammed the rear of an ambulance and then went on to hit a container lorry injuring a woman in the ambulance and 16 passengers of the bus, including the driver, at Vallarpadam near DP World on Monday around 6 p.m.

All three vehicles were headed in the direction of Vypeen. As traffic through the track to Vypeen came to a standstill, it had a cascading effect on the entire stretch between Bolgatty Junction and Vypeen for almost three hours. Traffic was restored after the vehicles involved were moved to the side using a crane.

“The woman aboard the ambulance was recuperating post-surgery after an accident and was being taken home at Vypeen. The door of the ambulance got jammed in the impact of the collision and had to be broken open with the help of fire and rescue services personnel. She seemed to have developed some complications and was taken back in another ambulance to Specialists’ Hospital where the surgery was held,” the Mulavukad police said. The bus driver reportedly had fractured his leg.

Passengers seated in the front rows of the bus suffered minor injuries following two successive collisions with the ambulance and the container lorry. They were taken to the General Hospital and Lourdes Hospital.

The Mulavukad police booked the bus driver for rash and negligent driving. The bus involved was set to be towed to the police station after midnight when the traffic through the area eased.