Three people, including a couple, were killed and their daughter suffered serious head injuries when the van in which they were travelling, collided with a tourist bus at Tirupullani Vilakku Road near here on Monday night.
Police said the victims, all from Kilakarai, were returning home after shopping here when their vehicle collided with the tourist bus, which was proceeding to Rameswaram from Tiruchendur.
The driver and the couple died on the spot and their daughter was admitted to a private hospital in Madurai, the police said.
The victims were identified as S. Vinodh (23), car driver, A. Syed Ibrahim (61) and his wife S. Najima (51). Minool Fathima, the couple’s married daughter, is undergoing treatment at the hospital, the police said. Her husband was in Dubai, they added.
The police said that 47 people, including a child from Salem, were travelling in the tourist bus and no one was injured.
The front portion of the bus was damaged and the windscreen broke in the impact.
The van appeared to have bore the brunt of the impact as it was reduced to mangled steel plates and rods.
Tirupullani police have registered a case and are investigating.
