A 40-year-old father has been killed and his five-year-old child seriously injured after the pair were struck by a passenger bus while walking along the Kurunegala–Puttalam Road near Herathgama Junction, Ada Derana reported.
The accident occurred on Friday (12) as the father, a resident of the Aulegama area, was walking along the road carrying the young child, police said. The bus, which was travelling towards Puttalam, struck the pair, causing both to sustain serious injuries. They were initially admitted to the Nikaweratiya Base Hospital, after which the injured child was transferred to the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital for further treatment. The father did not survive his injuries.
Police arrested the driver of the bus involved in the accident. Wariyapola Police are conducting further investigations into the incident.
The death adds to the running road-safety toll in the Western Province and North-Western interior corridor this cycle, after a Kuda Oya bus–motorcycle collision in early May that killed a 14-year-old girl and a container-truck fatal accident at Nawalapitiya on May 1. Pedestrian collisions along the Kurunegala–Puttalam Road have been a recurring concern, with sections of the route passing through built-up junction areas where roadside footpaths give way to direct vehicle frontage.
Source: Man killed after being struck by bus while holding 5-year-old child — Ada Derana, June 13.
