Five persons including three men and two women from Andhra Pradesh were killed and six others were injured in a road accident on Palayamkottai outskirts in the early hours of Saturday.
Police said a group of tourists from Tenali in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh were going to Kanniyakumari in a bus. When they were crossing IRT Polytechnic on Tirunelveli – Kanniyakumari 4-lane national highway on Palayamkottai outskirts around 4.45 a.m., the bus driver halted the vehicle right on the busy highway to enable the tourists to answer nature’s call.
As some of the tourists crossed the national highway to reach other side of the road, a speeding lorry, also going towards Kanniyakumari, ploughed through them to kill 4 on the spot and injure 7 others. They were identified later as Rathna Manickam (56), Nagavardhini (45), Desu Venkatrama Rao (63) and Kannikenthi Ramaiah (66).
One of the injured, Sathyan (50), succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital. Other accident victims — three men and as many women — with multiple injuries are undergoing treatment at TVMCH.
Perumalpuram police have registered a case.
