Thirteen schoolchildren and a van driver were injured when a school transport vehicle overturned and fell into a 10-foot precipice in Nawalapitiya on Tuesday morning.
According to police, the van was carrying students from Katabula to Harangala when the accident occurred at around 6.30 a.m. The injured comprise 11 girls and two boys, all of whom were admitted to the Nawalapitiya District Hospital along with the driver.
Police are continuing investigations into the cause of the accident.
The crash is the second serious road incident in the Nawalapitiya area in a week, following a fatal container truck collision on May 1. Sri Lanka’s central hill country roads — narrow, steep and prone to landslides — have a chronically high accident rate, especially involving privately operated school vans which often run before dawn to reach schools in adjoining districts.
The Ministry of Transport announced earlier this year a target to significantly reduce road accidents and deaths by 2029, but enforcement of school transport safety standards — including driver licensing, vehicle inspections and seat belt requirements — remains uneven outside major urban centres.
Sources: Newswire; Ada Derana.
