Five persons were killed and six injured in an accident on the busy Salem-Coimbatore National Highway at Sankagiri on Friday.
The car was on its way to Vattamalai near Komarapalayam in Namakkal district when it rammed a stationary truck. An autorickshaw that came behind the car hit the vehicle and landed on the other side of the car. Four occupants of the car – Karthik and his relatives, Madeshwari, Paapathi and Chitra, were killed. Selvam (55) who was in the autorickshaw, was the other victim, the police said.
Superintendent of Police R. Sakthivel told The Hindu that the truck was overloaded and due to the weight, one of its tyres got burst, leaving the vehicle stranded on the left side of the highway.
Mr. Sakthivel said Saraswathi (52), Abirami, Monica (17) and Arjuna (one-and-half years old) car driver Murali (25) and autorickshaw driver Kalyanasundaram (42) suffered injuries. They were admitted to a private hospital, where the condition of Kalyanasundaram was critical. The police arrested truck driver Vijayan of Yercaud under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 304 (A) (causing death by act of negligence), 337 (endangering life or safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC.
