Bus skids off a cliff in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO Sri Lanka A rider bus skidded off a cliff in Sri Lanka s tea-growing hill country on Sunday killing people and injuring others a police spokesman revealed The accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday near the town of Kotmale about miles east of Colombo the capital in a mountainous area of central Sri Lanka police stated Police spokesman Buddhika Manathunga mentioned people died and another were being treated in hospitals Local television displayed the bus lying overturned at the bottom of a precipice while workers and others helped remove injured people from the rubble The driver was injured and among those admitted to the hospital for therapy At the time of the accident nearly people were traveling on the bus Manathunga commented police launched an examination to ascertain whether the driver s recklessness or a technical fault of the bus caused the accident The bus was operated by a state-run bus company police disclosed Deadly bus accidents are common in Sri Lanka especially in the mountainous regions often due to reckless driving and poorly maintained and narrow roads