German among two killed in crash

Fifty injured in two separate accidents:

Rafik JALALDEEN

At least two persons including a foreigner were killed and 50 others injured in two separate accidents in Hettimulla and Ampara.

Two persons including a German national were killed when a van and a bus collided head on along Galle Road in Hettimulla at around 10.15 p.m. on Tuesday, police said.

"A private bus plying from Matara to Colombo collided with the van coming from the opposite direction. A 69-year-old German national in the van was killed on the spot. The van driver died after admission to the Colombo National Hospital," he added.

The bus driver, conductor and four others injured in the accident were admitted to the Nagoda hospital.

Meanwhile, 44 passengers were injured when a bus skidded off the road and crashed to a wayside tree in Aliwanguwa, Ampara yesterday morning.

Police said a CTB bus belonging to the Ampara depot plying from Uhana to Ampara met with the accident in Aliwanguwa, Karangawa.