In a gory road mishap, five persons were killed on the spot, and eight others were injured, four of them critically, when a cement-laden lorry ran amock, hitting a stationary truck, a car, and a two-wheeler, at Dharmapuram village of Nagari mandal, close to Tamil Nadu border, 55 km from Tirupati, on Friday afternoon.
According to information, a cement-laden lorry on its way to Chennai hit a stationary truck, and a car and a two-wheeler coming in the opposite direction, besides dashing towards some workers engaged in road-markings.
The impact left five killed on the spot. The deceased included a father and his two sons, and two road workers.
The deceased were identified as Bhupal, his two sons Nitin and Umesh (minors); and road workers Kannan and Babu.
While Leelavathi, the wife of Bhupal, and three road workers were critically injured, four inmates of the car received minor injuries. All were rushed to the government area hospital at Nagari, and three were later shifted to SVRR Hospital in Tirupati.
Immediately after the incident, traffic came to a grinding halt on the Puttur-Chennai NH. The police who swung into action along with locals deployed ambulances from Nagari and cleared the traffic. A case was registered and further investigation is on.
