Three students were fatally knocked down by a lorry near their school at Velliyur in Tiruvallur district on Tuesday morning.
According to police, the students of Government Higher Secondary School on Tiruvallur-Red Hills Road were standing near a roadside eatery opposite their school when the lorry ran over them after hitting a road divider.
Five other students sustained injuries in the accident and were referred to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai.
According to police, the accident took place around 9.30 a.m. when the students were about to take their breakfast near the roadside eatery.
They had little time to react as the lorry suddenly crashed into the eatery after hitting the median.
While Munusamy, Mohandoss and Rajkumar, studying in class XII, were declared dead at the District Government Headquarters Hospital in Tiruvallur, Sabhapathy, Thambidurai, Selvakumar, Nagaraj and Rajbharath, their classmates, who sustained injuries, were taken to Chennai.
The Vengal police who have registered a case are on the lookout for the lorry driver, who fled the scene after the accident.
Traffic on Tiruvallur-Red Hills Road was disrupted for some time after locals and school students staged a road roko. They withdrew their agitation after senior officials assured them that necessary steps would be initiated to apprehend the driver and measures initiated to prevent accidents in future.
Solatium announced
Special Correspondent writes from Chennai:
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday announced solatium of Rs.1 lakh each to the three school students who died. An official release said the Chief Minister condoled the death of Mohandas, Rajkumar and Munusamy, who died on the spot.
Similarly, the Chief Minister had also ordered the doctors to provide special attention to the five injured students who are in hospital.
The injured would be given Rs.15,000 each, the Chief Minister said in a statement.