VILLUPURAM: Ten people died and six others suffered grievous injuries when an omnibus and van collided head-on near Kallakuruchi in the wee hours of Thursday. While the bus was on the way to Chennai from Coimbatore, the pick-up van was carrying contract workers, sources said. Police suspect driver of the van might have dozed off, resulting in the vehicle veering to the opposite lane.
According to a police official, Sanakaresawaran of Uthiramerur in Kancheepuram was a manpower agent and had sent 14 workers, hailing from Jharkhand to Kanageyam from Kancheepuram for TNEB work. They were travelling in a van driven by M Manikandan (32) of Deivavinayagapuram in Madurai. K Meenatchi Sundaram (33) of Govindanallur in Virudhunagar district accompanied them as a guide and K Lingam (19) of Deivanayagapuram too joined the workers.
On Thursday morning, the van was plying on the Kallakuruchi bypass road when it collided with the bus. In the accident, bus driver A Rajendiran (56) of Alangulam in Tirunelveli died on the spot and spare driver Ravichandran (28) of Vilanguruchi in Coimbatore suffered injuries.
Similarly, van driver Manikandan, workers K Kharu Rajak (30), K Anon Rajak (19), L Seman Rajak (28), A Chottu Kumar (23), L Raj Ponnia (30) and K Anoj Ponia (35) died on the spot while seven more workers suffered injuries. Based on information, policemen from Kallakuruchi station under inspector S Valli rushed to the spot and sent the injured to the government hospital in Kallakuruchi.
6 die in Thoothukudi as car rams bridge wall
Thoothukudi: Six persons died when their car rammed into the wall of a bridge and fell into a 20-foot-deep pit near Karunkulam in Thoothukudi district on Thursday. Sources said that the deceased were bound for Tiruchendur from Sivakasi. The injured were admitted to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital. ENS