Six men were killed in separate accidents in different parts of the city on Wednesday morning.
While three young employees of a BPO died when their office vehicle rammed a tree on GST Road near Pallavaram, the other three victims were motorcycle riders.
Overspeeding and rash driving in the early hours could have been the cause, the traffic police said.
S. Anburaj of Tiruchi and S. Arjunan of Nagercoil, both 23 years old, 22-year-old M. Suresh from Salem and Rithi Lal were returning home in a Tata Sumo after night shift at their office in Nungambakkam. V. Rajkumar (21), the driver, tried to slow down the vehicle to turn right from GST Road, but seems to have lost control.
The SUV rammed into a tree, bounced off it and came to a halt after plunging into a road-side shop. This happened around 4.30 a.m.
Anburaj, Arjunan and Suresh died on the spot. Driver Rajkumar and Rithi Lal, who were seated in the front and had seat belts on, were injured and taken to Tambaram Taluk Government Hospital, Chromepet.
The other accident took place on Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, around 5 a.m.
K. Veeramani (25), a supermarket employee, was going to work from T. Nagar on a motorcycle, with his colleague Rajkumar riding pillion. When he tried to overtake a vehicle near Binny Road intersection, he lost control. The motorcycle skidded, hit a median first and then a lamppost.
Veeramani sustained critical injuries and died on the spot. Rajkumar suffered a broken arm and is undergoing treatment at Government Royapettah Hospital.
In the third instance, 27-year-old Nagaraj, a driver with a private hospital in Perungalathur, died after the motorcycle he was riding was hit by an engineering college bus, around 7.30 a.m. on Mudichur Road in Tambaram.
In Pallavaram, 50-year-old Shanmugham was involved in a head-on collision with another motorcyclist, Babloo, on Tiruneermalai Road. Shanmugham died on the spot, while Babloo was injured.
