Thrissur: The driver of the SWIFT bus involved in an accident that led to the death of an elderly person on Thursday was arrested and released on bail shortly after.
The bus, which sped on to Kozhikode unaware of the incident, was impounded after it was brought back to Thrissur later in the day.
The accident happened at 5:05 am near Malaya Junction in Kunnamkulam here.
Though earlier reports carried that it was the bus that hit Tamil Nadu native Paraswamy, CCTV visuals have confirmed that it was in fact a pickup van that him first as he was crossing the road.
The impact had Paraswamy thrown to the road and unable to escape the path of the SWIFT bus in time. The rear wheel of the bus ran over Paraswamy's legs.
Though locals rushed him to Mulakunnathukaavu Medical College Hospital, the 65-year-old succumbed to injuries shortly after.
Both the pickup van and the bus sped on after the incident. The bus driver had earlier told police that he was aware of the incident.
After viewing the CCTV visuals, police have taken his word to be true given that it was the rear wheel that ran over Paraswamy.
The pickup van has also been identified as one belonging to a Vellarakkad resident.
However, it is not clear if it was indeed the owner of the vehicle who was behind the steering wheel. An investigation is on.
This is the second accident involving SWIFT buses in two days. On Tuesday (the first day of service), a SWIFT bus collided with a lorry at Kallambalam in Thiruvananthapuram.
The crew of the bus involved in the crash were subsequently removed from service.
The frequency of these accidents also had KSRTC Chairman and Managing Director Biju Prabhakar alleging that the string of accidents was part of foul play by rogue parties.
SWIFT buses, a new wing exclusively for long-distance services, began operations on Monday (April 11).
KSRTC was likely hoping that the new service would turn around its fortunes, but it seems it has only piled more misery on this debt-ridden state transport corporation.
