Five members of a family, including two children, were killed on the spot and three were injured after the car by which they were travelling hit a stationary trailer lorry from the rear on the Tiruchi–Madurai national highway at Soriampatti in the small hours of Friday.
The victims hailed from Ahmed Nagar district in Maharashtra. The police gave the names of the dead as Tushar Vilas Savaj (29), Jayashree Tushar Savaj (27), Viraj Tushar Savaj (5), Sarika Yashpal Gandhi (27), and Geeth, a two-and-half-year-old baby girl. The family members left their hometown on February 22 in the car on a south India tour.
After visiting Rameswaram and Madurai, they were heading to Tirupati when the accident occurred.
The names of the injured were given as car driver Yashpal Gandhi (30), Sahu Tushar Savaj (8), and Meeth, a two-and-half-year-old baby boy were injured. They were first admitted to the government hospital in Tiruchi and later shifted to a private hospital. Lorry driver Shankar (32) has been arrested. Valanadu police have registered a case.