Five persons were killed and three others injured in a road accident involving a car and a private bus on the Tiruchi – Chennai national highway at Siruganur, a few km from the city, in the wee hours of Saturday.
The dead and the injured were occupants of the car that was on its way to Kodaikanal from Puducherry.
The dead were identified as P. Murugadass (28), A. Jagannathan (23), P. Vivek Anand (26), S. Suresh (24) and N. Kannan (25) – all from Puducherry.
The injured, R. Veera Venkat (24), S. Babu (29) and G. Vignesh Kumar (23), are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the city.
According to police, the car was taking a right turn at Tirupattur junction along the highway when the Chennai-bound bus from Madurai rammed the vehicle killing five of them on the spot.
The car was completely smashed in the accident, while the front portion of the bus suffered damage, the police said. The Siruganur police have registered a case.