Fallen tree kills five people in state-run bus service in Sri Lanka

Five passengers were confirmed dead in Sri Lanka on Friday when a large tree fell on a state-run bus in the heart of the capital Colombo, police has said.

Nine other people were rescued and rushed to the hospital from the wreckage and admitted, where their condition was listed as stable.

There were about 20 passengers on board at the time.

“The bus had stopped at the Kollupitiya stand to pick up more passengers when the tree crashed on it,” a police official had said on the incident.

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“It had rained overnight and the tree had become unstable”, he added, saying an investigation was launched to determine whether the municipal government had failed to properly maintain trees lining streets in the upmarket neighbourhood.

Sri Lanka sees an average of around seven people killed on its roads each day, with a total of 2,536 people killed in road accidents around the island nation last year.

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