A 10-year-old girl was crushed to death after she came under the wheels of a lorry on her way to school on Friday.
The victim, N. Vishali, was a class IV student of a private school in Anna Pillai Street, Kothavalchavadi.
In a similar accident that took place in Besant Nagar on Monday, a 10-year-old schoolboy died after he was knocked down by a private van operated by his school.
On Friday, around 8.45 a.m., Vishali and her father Nagalingam (36), a lathe worker, left their house on Abirami Avenue, Kanadasan Nagar in Kodungaiyur. They were headed to Vishali’s school.
Around 9 a.m., when they reached Centre Avenue junction on MKB Nagar, a speeding garbage lorry entered the main road from the left.
“The driver took a swift right and rammed Nagalingam’s scooter throwing him and the child on the road. The girl came under the rear wheels of the lorry,” said a traffic investigation officer.
The vehicle, on contract with the Chennai Corporation, was driven by Srinivasan (48) of Sholavaram.
Meanwhile, Nagalingam, who escaped with minor injuries, rushed his daughter to Government Stanley Hospital in an autorickshaw. But she could not be saved. Doctors declared her brought dead.
Speaking to The Hindu , Vishali’s uncle, Udayakumar, said his niece usually travelled to school in an autorickshaw accompanied by her mother Adukkumalli and brother, Devesh (12).
“On Friday, her brother left home early with his mother to attend his half-yearly exams. So, Nagalingam decided to drop his daughter to school,” he said.
After the accident, residents of MKB Nagar staged a brief agitation. Speeding vehicles had proved to be grave risks for two-wheeler riders and pedestrians, they said.
“The condition of roads has worsened after the rains and the traffic police personnel are rarely sighted at this busy junction,” a shopkeeper said.
