New Delhi: Nine people, including five children, were killed and 40 others injured following a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus accident at Mangalam near Vadakkenchery area of Palakkad on Thursday, local media reports.

The accident happened at 12:05 am when a tourist bus hit behind a state-owned KSRTC bus.

According to the news agency UNI report, the KSRTC bus which was going to Coimbatore from Kottarakkara overturned and plunged into a wetland after it was hit by the tourist bus.

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The tourist bus was carrying 42 students and 5 teachers of Mar Basile’s Vidyaniketan School in Ernakulam, and was headed to Ooty.

The deceased include five students, one teacher and three passengers.

All the injured, 10 of them serious, were admitted to various hospitals including Palakkad District Hospital, Thrissur Medical College, Alathur Taluk hospital and a private hospital in Vadakkanchery, the report said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief on the loss of lives due to an accident in Kerala’s Palakkad district, and announced Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000, a tweet from the Prime Minister’s Office read.

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