Four killed and 76 injured in Rambewa three-bus collision

Police accounts report that four people were killed and 76 injured when three buses collided near the Rambewa-Weli Oya junction on the A9 road on November 10. Those killed included an SLTB driver and three passengers.

The detailed police account describes two Sri Lanka Transport Board buses colliding head-on, followed by a private bus striking the rear of one of them. Investigators are examining the circumstances; a court has ordered separate technical inspections of all three buses.

Of the 76 injured, 61 were being treated at Anuradhapura Hospital, 12 at Medawachchiya Hospital and three at Mihintale Hospital in the police account. The number 61 was therefore one hospital's count, not the total number injured.

Correction, November 11: an earlier version gave six deaths and 61 hospital admissions from an initial report. The detailed police account, corroborated by subsequent court reporting, gives four deaths and 76 injured. This page has been corrected.

November 13 update: police cite medical findings in crash inquiry

Mihintale police said medical reports indicated that the SLTB driver who died in the November 10 Rambewa collision had used drugs at the time of the crash. Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake was also reported as referring to that medical finding. The underlying medical report has not been independently inspected for this update, so the finding remains attributed to those officials rather than stated as this publication's own forensic conclusion.

Police had earlier identified careless and negligent driving by that driver as the principal cause in their preliminary investigation. That account does not replace the separate technical examinations ordered for the buses or a final legal determination. The confirmed casualty account retained above is four deaths and 76 injured; no new casualty total is asserted here.