Five persons, including three children, were killed when a van collided with a parked container truck on National Highway 544 at Walayar, near here, on Saturday afternoon. Seven others were injured in the accident — the second major road accident in 20 days in the district.
A 12-member group, mostly women and children, from Coimbatore was heading towards Palakkad to attend a family function when their van lost control and rammed behind the stationary truck. Transport authorities suspected speeding caused the tragedy.
The victims were identified as Fairoz Begum, 65, wife of Abdul Majeed from Karimbukadai, Coimbatore, her granddaughter Alfa Filda, 2, Sherin, 13, and Mohammed Rayan, 9, children of Moideen Abu, and van driver Mohammed Shajahan, 30, son of Shamzad Khan from Kuniyambatore.
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Fairoz Begum’s daughter Fareeda, 42, her daughter Iniya Farhat, 12, Binas, 36, his children Nishma, 12, and Mohammed Rizwan, 5, Moideen Abu’s wife Sajita, 28, and Meharaj, 30, were injured in the accident.
They were brought to Government District Hospital here and given first aid.