Three persons died and 17 others were injured, four critically, when a bus packed with passengers overturned near the Nochchimoddai Bridge in Vavuniya early yesterday morning, police said.
According to the police, the dead included the driver, a 23-year-old female undergraduate of the Jaffna University and another passenger who is yet to be identified.
The bus was travelling from Colombo to Vavuniya when the accident took place, police said.
The dead undergraduate was a resident of Nawalapitiya and the 33-year-old driver was from Velvitturai.
The cause of the accident was yet to be established but police believe that the bus may have been travelling at an excessive speed or the driver would have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Vavuniya police are conducting further investigations.