Four persons, including two LKG students, were killed on the spot and seven other students were injured when a school van in which they were travelling collided head-on with a tipper lorry on Kallankurichi Road near Ariyalur on Thursday.
Nine LKG students of the Vidhya Mandir School, Thamaraikulam, were returning home in the van, which was proceeding towards Ariyalur from Senthurai road while the tipper lorry was headed for Senthurai.
Almost run over by the limestone-laden lorry, the van was dragged down into a roadside dry tank. On being alerted, Fire and Rescue Service personnel rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.
S.Surya (4) and D.Saina John (4), van driver Chandrasekar (48) and a caretaker, Vasuki (35) were killed on the spot. The seven injured children were rushed to hospitals.
Two of them, S.Iniyavan and K.Sasidharan, were referred to the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital and five children admitted to the Ariyalur Government and private hospitals.
Sasikumar, driver of the tipper lorry, who fled the scene, was later arrested. E.Saravanavelraj, District Collector, Zia ul Haque, Superintendent of Police, Ariyalur, visited the hospitals and enquired about the condition of the children.
Meanwhile, a group of residents of the town resorted to a road blockade near the Government Headquarters Hospital demanding steps to check frequent accidents, especially those involving limestone-laden lorries, in and around Ariyalur.
