THOOTHUKUDI: Three fourth-year students of Thoothukudi Medical College were killed and two others critically injured after their car rammed a roadside tree on Beach Road in the early hours of Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as S Mugilan of Thirupatthur, P Rahul Jebastin (23) of Pudukottai district, and S Charuban (23) of Coimbatore, while R Hrithik Kumar (23) and Saran (23) of Thoothukudi district are under treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
According to sources, the five students had driven to Thermal Nagar and were returning around 3 am amid heavy rain when the driver, Charuban, lost control of the vehicle, causing it to crash head-on into a neem tree. Mugilan, Rahul and Charuban died on the spot, while the other two were left battling for life.
Fishermen at Thoothukudi Bay alerted police and called the 108 ambulance service. A team led by Town ASP C Madhan Kumar, with fire and rescue personnel, retrieved the bodies and rescued the injured from the mangled vehicle. Thoothukudi SP Albert John later inspected the accident site.