Three persons, including two elderly women, who were asleep on a pavement behind the Broadway bus terminus, were killed on the spot after a motorcycle with three teens ran over them in the early hours of Wednesday. Four others sleeping at the same spot escaped with injuries. The teenagers who rode the bike were arrested by police from a nearby hospital.
According to traffic police sources, the accident on Esplanade Road took place around 2 a.m. The victims - Chinnaponnu (70), Sakunthala (65) and Anbu (24) - were asleep along with seven others at the spot, which is close to the Esplanade police station.
The motorcycle was in high speed, passing Raja Annamalai Mandram and heading towards the road outside the Madras High Court. The rider lost control and ran on to the pavement killing all three on the spot including the one lying on a fibre cot. The women were flower sellers, while Anbu is believed to be construction worker.
The teens quickly grabbed their bike and fled the spot. They went to the Government Stanley Hospital for treatment of the injuries they had suffered in the accident.
Mobile phone left behind
A traffic police team reached the accident spot and began a probe. They discovered a mobile phone belonging to a teen that seemed to have fallen off during the accident. Using that, police tracked the trio to Stanley hospital, where the three were arrested. They were identified as Sadhik (19), Mansoor (18) and a 17-year-old male friend. The motorcycle was seized. Further probe is underway.
