Three persons, including a child, were killed on the spot, and another child was injured, when a car in which they were travelling collided head-on with a bus at Veerapandi on the Theni-Kumuli highway on Saturday evening.
The dead were A. Johnson (40), junior assistant and native of Uthamapalayam, his mother-in-law Jayajothi (60) and his daughter Juwala (2). The injured Jayanees (6) was rushed to hospital.
The front portion of the bus was completely smashed. Police and fire service personnel, with the help of local people, rescued the injured and removed the bodies.
SUV hits tree
In another accident, five persons were killed and nine others injured when a sports utility vehicle hit a roadside tree at Oththakadai Vilakku near Manamadurai on Saturday. Police said that the occupants were on a pilgrimage to Rameswaram and hailed from Sriramapuram and surrounding villages in Dindigul district. As many as 14 persons, including five children, were travelling in the vehicle. Members of three families, led by Murthy, Maheswaran and Basavaraj from Mahaboob Nagar in Andhra Pradesh, were in the vehicle.
Vehicle smashed
The front portion of the vehicle was smashed beyond recognition in the collision.
Murthy (51) and his wife Sellam (40), Gowtham (18), M. Akshaya (3) and Gopal of Chellakuttiyur in Dindigul district , who suffered extensive injuries, died on the spot.
The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Sivaganga and Madurai.
On receiving information, police and ambulance personnel rushed to the spot, retrieved the bodies and shifted the injured persons to hospitals.
Driver blamed
Negligence on part of the driver is said to have caused the accident, which took place in the wee hours.
