Four passengers, including a woman, were killed and eight injured when a State Transport Corporation bus rammed into a stationary tanker at Kazhudur Veppur (in Cuddalore district) on the Chennai-Tiruchi National Highway, in the early hours on Sunday.
According to sources, the bus was proceeding from Chennai to Tiruchi. When it was nearing Kazhudur Veppur around 3 a.m., traffic police were regulating the traffic as a tyre of the tanker suffered puncture and hence parked on the roadside. The driver and cleaner of the tanker were changing the tyre also.
However, the bus seems to have got out of control and rammed into the tanker.
Four persons including Rajkumar, 23, of Sivagangai District, and Thangaraju, 50, of Nesapakkam, were killed on the spot. Eight others, including bus driver Arul Jothi, 34, and conductor Viswanathan, 36, were injured seriously. A 44-year-old woman is also among the injured. They have all been admitted to the district headquarters hospital, Perambalur.
The police personnel, who were regulating the traffic, and also the crew of the tanker had a providential escape as they managed to jump into a trench on the roadside.
Veppur police are investigating.
