Carnage at Ramboda

In the early hours of Sunday morning on May 11, 2025, a bus left the road at at Gerandi Ella, in the Ramboda area, near Nuwara Eliya. At the time of writing, 22 passengers had died and a further 35 suffered serious injuries and were admitted to Kotmale, Gampola, Nawalapitiya and Nuwara Eliya hospitals.

- BY MICHAEL PATRICK O'LEARY

In the early hours of Sunday morning on May 11, 2025, a bus left the road at at Gerandi Ella, in the Ramboda area, near Nuwara Eliya. At the time of writing, 22 passengers had died and a further 35 suffered serious injuries and were admitted to Kotmale, Gampola, Nawalapitiya and Nuwara Eliya hospitals.

The SLTB bus was travelling from Kataragama to Kurunegala when it veered off the road and plunged over a precipice and landed on its back in a tea plantation. The roof and side panels of the bus were sheared off, and more than half the seats were ripped from the floor of the vehicle. Two Bell 412 helicopters were placed on standby by the Sri Lanka Air Force at Ratmalana Airport to assist with emergency evacuations. The death toll could have been higher if not for local residents helping to pull the injured from the wreckage and taking them to hospitals.

Up to 77 pilgrims were on the bus travelling from Kataragama to Kurunegala, a distance of about 250 kilometers, a nine-hour journey. According to the Nuwara Eliya District Chief Motor Vehicle Inspector Jaliya Bandara, the crash was not caused by a mechanical defect in the vehicle. He said that the bus was overloaded (the normal capacity should be much less than 77) and that the driver may have fallen asleep on the wheel.

The driver survived and was in Police custody at a hospital but later died.

Public Inquiry. Lessons to Be Learnt - Again

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressed condolences and the President's Media Division announced that compensation of Rs 1 million would be paid from the President's Fund to the family of each deceased victim.