Eight persons, including a child, died and 7 others including 4 children, sustained injuries in a road accident involving a car and a heavy vehicle near here on Wednesday morning.
According to police, the mishap took place around 6:30 a.m. on August 4 when the two vehicles collided on the middle of a narrow bridge over ‘kudhiraikal’ PWD supply canal on the Kancheepuram-Arakonam Road.
The lorry driver, Mahendran of Cheyyar, at first abandoned the vehicle and ran away from the accident spot. Later in the day he surrendered at the Kancheepuram Taluk Police Station. The car driver, Nagaraj and 7 others including, 8-year-old Sandhya, were killed on the spot.
The deceased – Nagaraj, Sandhya, Rajanna, Sivappa, Janakiraman, Rupa, Rani and Savithri – all residents of Naguvan hamlet, near Huskur in Kolar District, Karnataka, left their hamlet on August 3 evening to Tiruttani in Nagaraj’s friend’s car along with the other 7 persons who were injured in the accident.
Among the injured, the children – Sindhu (9), Sayithra (8) and Ranjitha (6) and Kushma (8) - sustained head injuries and were referred to Childrens’ Hospital, Egmore, Chennai and other three injured persons, Santhamma, Thulasiram and Krishna were referred to Government General Hospital, Chennai as they had sustained multiple injuries.
The group was coming towards Kancheepuram after offering their prayers at Tiruttani on the eve of ‘Aadi Kiruthigai’ at the hill temple early in the morning. They decided to visit Kancheepuram before returning back to their village. The car and lorry, laden with gravel, collided on ‘kudhiraikal’ Canal Bridge and in the impact front axle of the lorry broke and the front portion of the car was smashed, police added.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Kancheepuram Range, Ramasubramani and the District Revenue Officer, Sivarasu rushed to the accident spot and supervised the rescue and clearing operations. The Kancheepuram-Arakonam road was cleared for vehicular traffic at around 8 a.m.
