A lorry driver was charred to death and four others injured at Palacodde on Tuesday night when two lorries collided, resulting in the diesel tank in one of them to explode.
Kumar (30), a resident of Rayakottai in Krishnagiri, was driving a lorry laden with iron-rods from Hosur to Tiruppur. Another lorry carrying coconuts from Tharamangalam in Salem was headed to Gujarat. The lorry was driven by Perumal (38), a resident of Tharamangalam in Salem.
According to the police, it is suspected that the drivers had dozed off, when the lorries were crossing Selliyampatti in Palacodde around midnight, colliding into each other.
The diesel tank of the iron-rod laden lorry exploded in the impact, setting ablaze the vehicle. Kumar was caught in the wreckage and was charred to death. However, cleaner Arul jumped out from the burning lorry. The fire spread to the coconut laden lorry. Driver Perumal escaped, while the two other occupants, who were fast asleep, were thrown out in the impact.
The fire service personnel took two hours to extinguish the blaze.
