PM expresses anguish over TN bus accident deaths

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed anguish over a bus accident in Tamil Nadu's Avanashi town in Tiruppur district which claimed 19 lives.

Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister said, "Extremely anguished by the bus accident in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur district. In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families. I hope those who are injured recover at the earliest."

According to police, 19 persons died and 25 were injured when a container lorry going from Coimbatore to Salem and a passenger bus from Bengaluru to Thiruvananthapuram collided near Avinashi in Tiruppur district in Tamil Nadu in the early hours of Thursday.

Soon after the road mishap, police and fire tenders rushed to the spot for rescue operations.

In another road accident in Salem district in Tamil Nadu, five people died when their van collided with a bus, police added.