Six persons, including three members of a family, died, and 24 other passengers were injured, when a private omnibus and a passenger van collided head-on at Othakadai near here on Tuesday night.
Madurai Rural police said that the van, carrying about 20 passengers, was on its way back from Velankanni to Marthandam in Kanyakumari district. The bus was proceeding to Chennai from Madurai.
The accident took place around 11.30 p.m. on the Othakadai-four lane highway intersection.
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Madurai Superintendent of Police Asra Garg visited the spot.
Othakadai police and rescue teams rushed to the scene and took the injured to hospital.
The names of the dead passengers, who were travelling in the van, were given as Thangamani (45), Pushpa Nalini (40) (wife of Thangamani), Shiny (13) daughter of Thangamani and Rasalan (60), Sebi (2) son of Chandran and Kumar (40), the van driver.
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The injured passengers were all friends and relatives of Thangamani. They had left Velankanni in the forenoon and the accident took place while crossing the outskirts of Madurai in the night.
District Collector U. Sagayam, who visited the injured undergoing treatment at Government Rajaji Hospital, consoled the patients and inquired with the doctors attending on them about their progress.
The van was badly damaged in the collision.
Traffic on the four-lane highway was hit due to the accident for some time. Normal traffic flow was restored after removing the bodies and the injured to hospital.