DHARMAPURI: Four persons were killed and four others sustained injuries after a lorry carrying poultry feed rammed a motorcycle and two trucks on the Dharmapuri-Salem road near Thoppur in Dharmapuri on Tuesday morning due to a suspected brake failure. The impact of the collision caused one of the trucks to enter the opposite lane and ram two more cars.
The deceased were identified as P Arunagiri (38) and his sister V Kalaiarasi (40) of Madheymangalam in Dharmapuri, who were travelling on the bike; P Dinesh (30) of Salem, driver of a car; and S Munusamy (43) of Namakkal, driver of the fodder lorry, which was heading to Namakkal from Mumbai. The bodies were shifted to Government Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital for autopsy.
According to Thoppur police, the fodder lorry first collided with a truck, and subsequently rammed a two-wheeler, and a parcel truck.
Negligence of lorry driver caused accident: NHAI
In the impact, the truck, carrying parcels from Vellore to Tiruchy, veered into the opposite lane and hit two cars. Meanwhile, the fodder-laden lorry also hit another truck carrying dress materials from Punjab to Tiruppur.
Sources said Arunagiri, Kalaiarasi and Munusamy died on the spot, while Dinesh, driving his car from Salem to Dharmapuri, was declared brought dead by doctors at Govt Dharmapuri MCH. Three persons, R Prabhakaran of Thanjavur, R Balakrishnan of Pudukkottai and Madhesh of Salem — passengers of the car and the load vehicles — and Veera (42) of Erode, assistant of Munusamy, escaped with minor injuries, police sources said.
Officers are enquiring with Veera to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.Dharmapuri Collector R Sadheesh, who visited the spot with revenue officials and police, told TNIE that the incident occurred despite various road safety measures taken to prevent accidents in the Thoppur ghat section.
“We have planned to mark separate space for two-wheelers near Thoppur in accident-prone spots to reduce accidents,” he said. When contacted, an NHAI official told TNIE, “Dharmapuri Regional Transport Officer has given a report to us stating that the alleged negligence of the lorry driver led to the accident, which claimed four lives.”