Kerala's Palakkad bus accident: PM Narendra Modi expressed grief on the loss of lives due to Wednesday's bus accident in Kerala's Palakkad district. PM has announced ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) to families of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to the injured in the bus accident. 

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A private tourist bus had hit a state-run KSRTC bus from behind at Vadakkenchery, Kerala around 11.30 PM on Wednesday. A total of nine people, including five school students, were killed and several injured in the accident. The dead included five school students, one of their teachers and the remaining three were passengers of the state-owned KSRTC bus that was hit by the ill-fated bus, an IANS report said.

The PMO India tweeted, “PM @narendramodi has expressed grief on the loss of lives due to an accident in Kerala’s Palakkad district. He extends condolences to the bereaved families and prays for a quick recovery of the injured.”

“Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000,” the PMO office further tweeted.

Earlier today, President Dropaudi Murmu also expressed grief and tweeted, “I feel extremely sad to know about a heart-wrenching tragedy in Palakkad, Kerala, where we have lost precious lives of school children and others. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured.”

Kerala Palakkad bus accident: How it happened 

Nine were killed and several wounded in the bus accident on Wednesday. An IANS report stated: “The driver of the KSRTC bus told reporters that he was driving at a speed of around 40 km per hour when the private bus suddenly hit them from behind and he barely managed to control the vehicle and prevent it from falling into a ditch."

"The private bus hit us from behind, ripped off a piece of our bus from one side and then went past us at high speed and toppled over," the KSRTC bus driver was quoted saying.

The tourist bus had started from the Baselios Vidyanikethan Senior Secondary School in Ernakulam with 42 students and five teachers at around 7 PM on Wednesday for a pleasure trip to Ooty in Tamil Nadu.