Five persons died and three others were injured in a road accident involving two cars on the Tiruchi-Madurai National Highway near Panchappur here in the early hours of Wednesday.
A 15-year-old boy was among those killed, whose identities have been established by the police.
Lost controlPolice sources said a car in which a group of persons were travelling was proceeding towards Madurai on the highway when the driver lost control.
The vehicle dashed against the centre median, went over it and rammed into another car, carrying newspapers, coming in the opposite lane.
In the collision, five occupants died on the spot and three others, including drivers of vehicles, sustained injuries.
Victims identifiedPolice gave the names of the dead as S. Venkatasamy (58), R. Kannan (50), K. Rajkumar (15), and P. Marisamy (47) – all from Kumbakonam, and T. Prathap (29) of Madurai.
While Prathap was heading towards Tiruchi, in the car carrying newspapers, the others were proceeding towards Madurai in another vehicle. The injured were admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital in the city.
InvestigationThe Traffic South (Investigation) unit has registered a case, police sources said.