CHENNAI: Loud, rash and brash, Chennai welcomed the New Year in a typical fatal fashion, notwithstanding increased patrolling by city police. At the break of dawn of new year, there were five dead and over 120 injured in incidents reported across the city.
In the first incident, Muthukumar of Thanjavur, who worked as an AC mechanic in the city, died when he rammed his two-wheeler into a mini load carrier on Usman Road flyover around 1.30 am on Sunday. Police said he died on the spot. Another was a hit-and-run case, in which a pedestrian, Moorthy (55), was knocked down by a vehicle when he was walking near ICF during the wee hours of Sunday. Passersby rushed the victim to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. A case has been registered by Tirumangalam traffic investigation.