By Susitha Fernando

Colombo, Jan 20 (IANS): Seven people were killed and over 50 others, including school children, were injured when a bus collided with a van in the Central hills of Sri Lanka on Friday.

Six passengers in the van along with a three-wheeler driver who got caught in the accident were among the dead. The bus, carrying school children, returning from an educational tour, had met with the accident at Radalla in Nanu Oaya and it had toppled over a precipice. The injured have been rushed to Nuwaraeliya hospital.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed relevant officials to provide all necessary assistance to the students injured in the accident and if required, airlift those seriously injured to capital Colombo.

There is a significant rise in road accidents in Sri Lanka over the years and according to the WHO data in 2020, road traffic accident deaths were recorded at around 4,200 or 3.625 per cent of the total deaths in the island nation. In 2021, 2,414 deaths were reported from 22,319 road accidents.