Kottarakkara: "The moment I saw the tipper lorry approaching, I panicked. I grabbed the hands of two children standing next to me and ran..." recalled Anjali, who narrowly escaped the devastating tipper lorry accident at Nileswaram in Kollam. Still shaken by the tragedy she witnessed, Anjali said the trauma is even greater because many of those killed and injured were people she knew.

Anjali had reached the bus stop to board the 7 am Sreevatsam bus to a nearby temple. The others waiting there were schoolchildren, office-goers and commuters planning to board the same bus. The bus, scheduled to arrive at 7 am, was delayed by about 10 minutes—and in those few minutes, disaster struck in the form of the speeding tipper lorry.

The accident occurred on a stretch with a slope and a sharp curve. Eyewitnesses said the lorry, allegedly overloaded with soil, came hurtling down the slope at high speed.

"The tipper was coming down very fast. It's a T-junction, and it first hit a Bullet motorcycle coming from another direction before crashing into the bus shelter," Anjali said.

"Everything happened very fast. The moment I saw the tipper, I sensed something was wrong. As soon as it hit the motorcycle, my instinct was to run. I managed to grab the hands of two girls standing beside me and pulled them away. When I turned back, I saw the tipper dragging the motorcycle into the bus stop," she said.

"There were around 10 to 12 schoolchildren waiting at the bus stop. When the lorry rammed into it, the soil it was carrying and parts of the bus shelter wall collapsed onto them. I was terrified. I immediately called my mother, who rushed to the spot with our neighbours. I also alerted the police and the Fire and Rescue Services. By then, local residents had already begun rescue operations," Anjali added.

Preliminary findings suggest the driver lost control while attempting to avoid an oncoming motorcycle. The Bullet was found trapped beneath the lorry.

The accident claimed the lives of three people, including a school student. Several victims suffered horrific injuries, with some bodies badly mutilated. Many others managed to escape after spotting the speeding tipper and running to safety.

Local residents said vehicles usually descend the stretch cautiously because of the steep slope, and this was the first major accident in the area. They added that the route is frequently used by trucks transporting soil from a nearby hill, with such vehicles beginning operations as early as 3 a.m.

As it is the monsoon season, the Mining and Geology Department had not granted permission for soil excavation, Kollam Collector Annie Jul Thomas said. She added that authorities would investigate whether any permission had been issued through the corporation. The Motor Vehicles Department said cases would be registered against both the owner and the driver of the tipper lorry.