India: Bus escapes fatal fall into sea, hits bridge railings in Tamil Nadu

A head-on collision of two speeding buses at the Pamban bridge (in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu) left nearly ten people injured. The incident is said to have occurred when a private bus rammed into a government bus, that was travelling from the opposite direction.

A #TNGovt bus &a pvt bus were involved in a head-on collision on the Pamban bridge, that connects Mandapam (mainland) with Rameswaram island..

Video shows mangled front portion of both buses..one of them is dangerously close to bridge railings.. #accident 👇 (1/2) #BusAccident pic.twitter.com/18V1A5seul — Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) October 12, 2022

The Pamban bridge is the crucial, lone road link between Mandapam on the mainland and the Rameswaram island in Tamil Nadu. The bridge that spans nearly 2.5 kms is built over the Bay of Bengal.

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This is the most fortunate outcome for a tragedy like this! Let's remember that this #accident occurred on a narrow 2km-long bridge that's build over the #bayofbengal

thank goodness for the strong railings that bore the brunt of super-heavy impact... Else, needless to say! https://t.co/e6UjrHusQT pic.twitter.com/l9tUCzyAc3 — Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) October 12, 2022

Videos of the incident show that the private bus had finally collided with the bridge railings and came to a halt dangerously close at the very edge. Onlookers, fishermen, and fire and rescue personnel who had reached the spot ensured that the passengers were taken to safety. Rescue teams were deployed to clear the accident site and ease the flow of traffic on the narrow bridge. Authorities are also probing the incident and have registered a case.