A 50-year-old woman died on the spot and 17 others, including four children, suffered injuries when a Rameswaram-Tenkasi Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus collided with an oncoming container lorry around 5.30 a.m.
Police said the lorry, which was coming from Thoothukudi with a heavy machine packed with wooden planks, occupied almost the total carriage space of the two-lane highway.
The bus driver, swerved to avoid hitting against a roadside signboard, lost control and crashed into the lorry.
In the impact, three seats behind the driver were ripped apart and the entire front portion was reduced to a mangle. An unidentified woman was crushed to death while 17 other passengers suffered fractures and bleeding injuries.
Those injured included Mageswari, 14, studying Class IX and her sister Priyadarshini, 12, studying Class VII. They were studying in a residential school in Palayamkottai and returning to school after visiting their relatives in Rameswaram.
Police and Fire and Rescue Services personnel laboured for more than an hour to rescue the girls as their legs got entangled in the mangled seats.
Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao visited the injured at the Government Hospital here.
The lorry was transporting a German-made low pressure turbine part machine for Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which is carrying out the boiler, turbine and generator work for the thermal power station at Uppur. A BHEL official said the imported machine would have been packed with supporting planks and the extent of damage, if any, could be assessed only after it was brought to the site.
The lorry driver and attendant abandoned the vehicle and absconded from the accident spot.