In Tiruchirappalli district, near Samayapuram, three people, including a boy, were killed in an accident on Monday midnight when an omni bus collided with a car. Seven others were injured.
A total of 10 people, including 5 women and 5 men from Kottaikadu area in Karambakkudi taluk of Pudukkottai district, left by car on Monday night to have darshan at the Samayapuram Mariamman temple.
Around midnight on the Trichy-Chennai National Highway, near Samayapuram and Pallividai Bridge, car driver Maheswaran, who had missed the access road leading to the temple, realized his mistake after traveling a short distance and tried to reverse the car. At that moment, a private omni bus speeding along the same road from Trichy toward Chennai collided with the rear of the car. The rear portion of the car was badly damaged.
The people in the car were injured and trapped inside the wreckage. Local residents rescued them and sent them to the government hospital in Srirangam and to a private medical college hospital near the Samayapuram toll plaza.
3 dead: Among them, P. Pandian (49), R. Danalakshmi (47), and the boy R. Paveen (9) died on the way to the government hospital in Srirangam.
Of the remaining 7 people admitted to a private medical college hospital, R. Kousalya (46), P. Valarmathi (45), and T. Thillaiyammal (48) are in the intensive care unit, while R. Gokulavani (13), K. Manisharma (16), P. Thirunavukkarasu (52), and car driver Maheswaran are receiving treatment after having crossed the critical stage.
Upon learning about the accident, Samayapuram police arrived at the scene and removed the vehicles involved using a crane, clearing the traffic congestion. In addition, the police registered a case regarding the accident and arrested the driver of the omni bus that caused it, N. Ajith Kumar (27), from Thondi in Ramanathapuram district, and are questioning him.
