An 18-month-old boy died when the autorickshaw in which he was travelling crashed into the safety barricade on the margins of Chennai Bypass near Tambaram early on Friday.
The autorickshaw was driven by the boy’s father. St. Thomas Mount traffic police (investigation) said Mani, an auto driver, lived in Alapakkam village near Poonamallee with his wife and their two children.
Mani and his wife Malar hailed from Kalasampatti in Tiruvannamalai district.
He was driving to a funeral in Tiruvannamalai, with his wife, their children and two elderly women. Travelling through the night on Wednesday, they reached their native village on Thursday morning. After attending the funeral, they were returning to Chennai.
Around 2 a.m. on Friday, Mani may have dozed off resulting in the autorickshaw crashing into the safety barricade. Deepak, the elder child, was sleeping in his mother’s lap. She was sitting in the left corner of the vehicle, a police officer said.
The auto came to a halt about 25 metres away from the site of the crash, the officer said. Deepak sustained critical head injuries and died on the spot.
His mother Malar is undergoing treatment at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Further investigations are on.
