Five Dharmapuri devotees die as lorry hits van

Five devotees of a same village from the district were killed after the omni van in which they were returning home from Tiruvannamalai collided with a cement-laden lorry near Odasalpatti in the district in the early hours on Monday.

According to the sources, nine devotees, all residents of Gettuhalli of Dharmapuri district, had gone to participate in the deepam festival in Tiruvannamalai on November 17, in an omni van.

After attending the festival in Tiruvannamalai, all the nine were returning home by the same van. While the vehicle was passing through Odasalpatti joint road, a cement-laden lorry that was coming in the opposite direction collided head on with the omni van around 5 am. In the impact, four devotees were killed on the spot and one more died on the way to hospital.

The deceased were identified as M Karthi (30), R Arivazhagan (35), R Mani (32), G Perumal Alias Michael Raj (40) and R Amsaraj (25).

Four others in the van, who were injured, were admitted to the Government Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital (GDMCH).

The injured were P Kathan (30), D Ramu (35), P Durai (36), and R Govindasmy (23).

Kadathoor police have registered a case and are searching for the lorry driver, who fled the spot soon after the accident.

Meanwhile, one person was killed and 15 others grievously injured after the van in which they were travelling rammed a bridge near Maruluthu on Virudhunagar-Sattur four lane highway (NH 7), near here on Monday morning.

Police said that the group of 16 people was on its way to Ottapidaram in Thoothukudi district to visit the VOC memorial from Theni. When the van was crossing a bridge near Maruluthu near Virudhunagar, Shankar (42), the driver, lost control over the vehicle and rammed it.

Subbiyah (65) died on the spot, while the others, including the driver, sustained grievous injuries. On information, police rescued the people and admitted them to Virudhunagar Government Hospital.

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