THOOTHUKUDI: Four women were crushed to death and 15 others suffered injuries on Thursday morning after the van they were travelling in hit head-on against a water tanker lorry.
The deceased women were staffers of a private home decor manufacturing unit. They have been identified as G Selvarani (45), A Santhiya (48), R Kamatchi alias Jothi (40) and A Manimegalai (20).
According to the police, the van was ferrying over 17 women workers of a flower-making firm, when it rammed against the lorry on the route leading to SIPCOT from Sillanatham village. The accident happened due to rash driving on the part of the van driver, who is supposed to check-in the workers before 6.30 am, they suspected.
In the accident, at least four women lost their lives, while 15 others including 13 women and two drivers sustained injuries, police said.
Puthiyamuthur police rushed to the spot for rescue operations and helped retrieve the injured persons from the mangled remains of the van.
The injured have been shifted to Thoothukudi Medical College hospital. The bodies of the four dead women have been sent for postmortem, said sources.
Thoothukudi SP S Jeyakumar inspected the accident scene.
Puthiyamuthur police have registered a case and further investigations are on.