Sri Lanka road tragedy highlights ongoing traffic safety concerns
At least five people were killed and more than 50 others injured in a multiple-bus collision in Sri Lanka's North Central Province on Tuesday, police said.
The accident occurred on the Medawachchiya-Rambewa section of the A9 highway in the Anuradhapura district and involved two buses operated by the state-run Sri Lanka Transport Board and a private bus.
Police said the two state-owned buses collided head-on before the private bus crashed into the rear of one of them, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The injured were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Police have launched an investigation into the accident.
On October 19, at least four people were killed and several others injured in a multi-vehicle road accident in central Sri Lanka's Kandy district, police said.
Police said the accident occurred when a cement mixer truck collided with several vehicles and pedestrians.
Several injured people were admitted to hospital following the crash. Two of them are in critical condition.
Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.
In September, Sri Lankan police identified 712 accident-prone and hazardous locations across the country following a nationwide survey, Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya said.
Weerasooriya said the police had compiled information on locations where road accidents occur frequently and provided the data to relevant authorities to support road safety measures.
Sri Lanka has recorded 1,849 fatal road accidents so far in 2026, eight more than during the corresponding period last year, he said.
The number of road deaths has also increased by 16 compared with the same period in 2025.
Weerasooriya said pedestrians and motorcyclists remained the groups most affected by fatal road accidents.
Many pedestrian deaths involved people walking or standing along roadsides, while motorcycle fatalities frequently resulted from riders colliding with fixed objects or other roadside obstacles rather than with other vehicles, he said.
Road accidents are common in Sri Lanka. The country recorded a total of 2,562 fatal road accidents in 2025, according to police statistics.
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