Four killed, 7 injured as truck ploughs through vehicles in Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri

DHARMAPURI: Four people died and seven others were injured when a container truck carrying cement load ploughed through 12 cars, a mini-van, a truck and a bike on the Thoppur ghat road of the Salem-Bengaluru National Highway near Dharmapuri around 4.15pm on Saturday. The truck was heading to Salem from Andhra Pradesh.
The incident took place when a highway patrol team was trying to regulate traffic on the stretch where an accident between a truck, which was heading to Salem from Krishnagiri, and a minivan had led to pileup of vehicles.
“Traffic had come to a standstill with the truck and the minivan stranded on the road. Police were trying to restore traffic. Vehicles were moving slowly on the two lanes of the road when the container truck came dashing through the gap, crashing into vehicles,” a police officer said.
A Madhan Kumar, 42, of Omalur, his car driver T Karthik, 38, of Pagalpatti near Omalur, and another car driver Nityanandham, 35, of Coimbatore, were killed on the spot. The truck driver escaped from the spot.
Eight injured were rushed to government and private hospitals in Dharmapuri and Salem districts. “Another victim, G Kannan, 42, of Perumbalai near Omalur, died at the Dharmapuri government medical college and hospital without responding to treatment,” superintendent of police Pravesh Kumar said.
Dharmapuri collector S P Karthika visited the spot and held talks with police. Talking to reporters, she said the truck driver, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, had managed to escape from the spot.
She said the district administration and the National Highway Authority of India were exploring the possibility of laying an alternative road to avoid accidents on the ghat road. “We had sent a proposal to the Union and the state government for their nod. There are also plans to install cameras to monitor speeding vehicles on the stretch at a cost of 35 lakh.”
The Thoppur police have registered a case and a probe is on.
Rajyasabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss, meanwhile, said the accident could have been averted had the Centre given its nod fro laying an alternative road on the NH. “We had sent a proposal at an estimated cost of 140 crore and it is still pending with the Centre. Officials had promised to widen the existing road by making it six-lane.”