21 students from TN injured as bus overturns at Oonukal

KOCHI: A bus transporting over 40 medical students from Chengalpattu Medical College to Munnar overturned at Oonukal near Neriamangalam on Wednesday morning. The 21 students, who were injured in the accident, were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Eight of them, who sustained severe injuries, were later admitted to Kolencherry Medical College. Police said the bus overturned around 4.45am while trying to avoid a collision with a speeding car .
Most of the first-year MBBS students were sleeping when the accident occurred. The group had taken a train to Shoranur and then continued their journey to Munnar in the bus arranged by a travel agency. A girl from Kerala had a lucky escape as she was supposed to board the bus at Oonukal. Medical college officials said that they were alerted about the accident by 7am. Hospital authorities said that the condition of those admitted to the hospital were stable. "Three of the injured will need plastic surgery. One of the injured is now in neuro-ICU and two others are in the surgery ward. One was treated at the casualty wing and was discharged late on Wednesday. Four of the injured left the hospital by noon after treatment," said an official at the medical college.
Hospital authorities said that Deepika -whose cheekbones were fractured in the accident - was admitted at the neuro-ICU, while Lavanya injured her left hand in the accident. Another student Giridhar has been referred for surgery. Arun Kumar injured his forehead while Soorajkiran sustained an injury on his hand. Three others, Ramani N, Midhun Mohan and Murali Krishnan, were discharged after treatment.
Oonukal SI Vineesh VR said the students were rescued with the help of residents and the fire force. "One of the injured was trapped inside the bus and the fire force rescued her. Another victim's hand was crushed underneath the bus. We were able to rescue her after lifting the bus using a hydraulic jack lift," he said.