Seven persons, including three women, were killed on the spot and five others sustained grievous injuries when the car in which they were travelling rammed a stationary lorry on the Chennai-Bangalore National Highway near Gopasandiram in early hours on Sunday.
The driver of the lorry, which was laden with granite, had parked the vehicle on the right side of the road, after a front tyre turned flat. Police said that failure to keep a caution signboard with reflectors appeared to be the reason for the accident.
Truck driver R. Sivam, 33, of Seegalapalli village near Krishnagiri was arrested.
According to the police, the accident took place when P. Anandan, 50, of Karumathamputhur, Vellore, a Special Sub-Inspector working in Vellore district, was travelling in the car with his family and relatives to Bangalore.
Those who died on the spot were Anandan, his wife A. Uma, 40, his daughter A. Sandhiya, 17, Uma’s sister B. Ramani, 37, her husband B. Babu, 42, their son B. Arun, 12, and car driver R.Vilwanathan, 30.
The injured were identified as G. Murugan, 34, a relative of Anandan; daughters of Babu, B. Shalini,15, and B. Preethi, 7; Anandan’s daughter A. Iswarya, 15, and Murugan’s son M. Diwakar, 4. They were shifted to a private hospital in Hosur, and some were referred to a private hospital in Bangalore.
The truck driver was remanded in judicial custody.
The Shoolagiri police have registered a case under Sections 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 304 A (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. Further investigations are on.
