Latest news with #Kotmale
Arab News
14-05-2025
- Arab News
Sri Lanka to monitor bus drivers with AI after worst crash in decades
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will use artificial intelligence to monitor bus drivers and make seat belts mandatory on public transport, a government minister said on Wednesday, after the country's worst bus crash in two decades killed 23 people. The South Asian nation, which records an average of 3,000 road fatalities annually, has some of the most dangerous roads in the world. Buses are to be equipped with driver monitoring systems from next year, while seat belts will become compulsory on public transport from June, Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake told reporters in Colombo. It came after an overcrowded bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims plummeted into a precipice on Sunday. The changes are aimed at 'educating motorists to develop a better driving culture and improving safety standards,' Rathnayake said. 'We are going to make AI-backed driver observation systems mandatory on all buses from next year, and we will expand them to all long-distance trucks as well.' The minister said the cause of Sunday's crash in the tea-growing mountainous region of Kotmale was still being investigated, but that two more passengers had died, raising the toll to 23. Fifty-four passengers were admitted to hospital, Rathnayake said, adding that preliminary inquiries had found no immediate indication of driver error. Another driver had reported a problem with the bus's steering wheel the day before, but managers said it was attended to. Sunday's crash off a cliffside road was the deadliest recorded in Sri Lanka since April 2005. The state-owned bus was carrying around 77 passengers — about 20 more than its capacity. In March 2021, 13 passengers and the driver of a privately owned bus died when the vehicle crashed into a precipice in Passara, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the site of Sunday's crash.
CNA
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- CNA
Sri Lanka to monitor bus drivers with AI after worst crash in decades
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will use artificial intelligence to monitor bus drivers and make seat belts mandatory on public transport, a government minister said on Wednesday (May 14), after the country's worst bus crash in two decades killed 23 people. The South Asian nation, which records an average of 3,000 road fatalities annually, has some of the most dangerous roads in the world. Buses are to be equipped with driver monitoring systems from next year, while seat belts will become compulsory on public transport from June, Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake told reporters in Colombo. It came after an overcrowded bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims plummeted into a precipice on Sunday. The changes are aimed at "educating motorists to develop a better driving culture and improving safety standards", Rathnayake said. "We are going to make AI-backed driver observation systems mandatory on all buses from next year, and we will expand them to all long-distance trucks as well." The minister said the cause of Sunday's crash in the tea-growing mountainous region of Kotmale was still being investigated, but that two more passengers had died, raising the toll to 23. Fifty-four passengers were admitted to hospital, Rathnayake said, adding that preliminary inquiries had found no immediate indication of driver error. Another driver had reported a problem with the bus's steering wheel the day before, but managers said it was attended to. Sunday's crash off a cliffside road was the deadliest recorded in Sri Lanka since April 2005. The state-owned bus was carrying around 77 passengers - about 20 more than its capacity. In March 2021, 13 passengers and the driver of a privately owned bus died when the vehicle crashed into a precipice in Passara, about 100km east of the site of Sunday's crash.
Arab News
11-05-2025
- Arab News
Passenger bus skids off a cliff in Sri Lanka, killing 21
COLOMBO: A passenger bus skidded off a cliff in Sri Lanka's tea-growing hill country on Sunday, killing 21 people and injuring at least 14 others, an official said. The accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday near the town of Kotmale, about 140 kilometers (86 miles) east of Colombo, the capital, in a mountainous area of central Sri Lanka, police said. Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena told the media that 21 people died in the accident and 14 others are being treated in hospitals. Local television showed the bus lying overturned at the bottom of a precipice while workers and others helped remove injured people from the rubble. The driver was injured and among those admitted to the hospital for treatment. At the time of the accident, nearly 50 people were traveling on the bus. The bus was operated by a state-run bus company, police said. Deadly bus accidents are common in Sri Lanka, especially in the mountainous regions, often due to reckless driving and poorly maintained and narrow roads.
Washington Post
11-05-2025
- Washington Post
Passenger bus skids off a cliff in Sri Lanka, killing 21 people and injuring 35
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A passenger bus skidded off a cliff in Sri Lanka's tea-growing hill country on Sunday, killing 21 people and injuring 35 others, a police spokesman said. The accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday near the town of Kotmale, about 140 kilometers (86 miles) east of Colombo, the capital, in a mountainous area of central Sri Lanka , police said.
The National
11-05-2025
- The National
Best photos of May 11: Devotees mark Buddha's birthday in Myanmar to fatal bus crash in Sri Lanka
People gather at the site of a bus accident in the region of Kotmale in Sri Lanka. An overcrowded bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims crashed into a precipice, killing more than 20 people. AFP
