Areekode: Twenty three school children were injured when the school bus in which they were travelling hit a sand-laden lorry at Areekode in Malappuram district on Thursday. Twenty two children were taken to the Govt Hospital at Areekode for injuries and one to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital for treatment.

The incident happened in the morning at around 8.30 a.m when the sand-laden lorry, coming at a high speed, dashed against the school bus belonging to Majma Ul English medium
School at Therattammal. The driver of the bus tried to steer the bus away from the lorry thereby preventing a major crash. The lorry fled the scene when the driver was trying to pull out the injured children out of the bus. However, locals identified the lorry driver as Razzak.

Irritated over the incident, locals blocked the RDO Abdul Rahman's vehicle, who was travelling in that route. After the RDO promised action against the culprit, the locals let him go. Traffic was completely disrupted in the area following the accident.