Four members of a family, including three women, and a driver died after the car they were travelling in collided with a lorry on the Chennai-Tiruchi highway near Maduranthakam early on Wednesday.
According to police, Subramani (85), of Karanchavadi, Poonamalee, his wife Indrani, (75), daughter Mahalakshmi (50) and granddaughter Shantini (18) had gone to Samayapuram in Tiruchi in a car driven by Paul Dinakaran (24), a resident of Mangadu.
Early on Wednesday morning, the family was returning to Chennai. When the vehicle was near Anthimanam in Madurantakam, the driver of a lorry parked by the roadside started to reverse his vehicle. The car rammed into the lorry and got stuck beneath the rear wheels of the heavy vehicle.
All the five died on the spot. Passers-by alerted the Pattalam police about the accident and the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) personnel were called in to remove the bodies from the car. TNFRS personnel used hydraulic cutters and spreaders, to remove the bodies from the car.
The lorry driver Thangasami, 31, from Manapparai, is absconding. The lorry has been seized by the police. “We are searching for the lorry driver," said a police officer.
Traffic was affected on the highway for a few hours due to the accident.
