Miraculous escape for three as van hits parapet of sea bridge

January 08, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:52 am IST - RAMESWARAM:

The van which jumped the footpath and dashed against the parapet of the Pamban road bridge on Wednesday.

The van which jumped the footpath and dashed against the parapet of the Pamban road bridge on Wednesday.

The driver of a van and two other occupants had a miraculous escape when the vehicle, after running over the cut trunk of a coconut tree which fell from a tractor, climbed on the footpath of the Pamban road bridge and came to a halt after dashing against the parapet.

Muniaraj (32) of Rameswaram was coming from Chennai in the van after receiving his brother Muthupandi (27), who had returned from abroad, at the airport when the mishap occurred around 7.30 p.m., police said. All the three escaped unhurt, the police added.

Driver lost control

Pamban Sub-Inspector of Police K. Silaimani, who rushed to the spot within minutes, said the van driver, Mohandoss (32) lost control of the vehicle after running over the coconut tree trunk.

The van was proceeding towards Rameswaram and the tractor was coming from the Pamban side, he said, adding the accident occurred about 200 metres on the bridge from the Mandapam side.

The parapet was damaged for about seven feet, he said.

Soon after the accident, the police removed the van and ensured traffic was not affected on the bridge, he said.

An Assistant Engineer from the National Highways inspected the damaged portion of the parapet, Mr. Silaimani added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.