A 19-year-old college student was crushed to death by a garbage collection lorry contracted to the Chennai Corporation near Otteri here on Thursday evening.
Police said S Vishali, a II BCom student of a city college and a resident of Villivakkam, and her classmate S Divya (19) of ICF, were on their way for shopping to Purasawalkam when the mishap occurred.
Divya picked up Vishali at her residence on her two-wheeler and were on Brick Kiln Road in Otteri when they were hit by the lorry around 4 pm. The accident occurred after the lorry driver attempted to overtake them from the left to move past the two-wheeler.
Vishali, who was riding pillion, fell to her left and was caught under the rear wheel of the lorry, while Divya fell to her right and suffered bruises. Vishali, who sustained head injuries, died on the spot.
Passersby who gathered at the spot blamed the lorry driver for rash driving. Sensing trouble, the driver abandoned the vehicle and fled.
Vishali’s body was moved to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for post-mortem. The condition of Divya, who was given treatment for her injuries, was said to be stable.
Doctors said that Divya was in a state of shock after witnessing Vishali being run over by the lorry. She was later shifted to a private hospital in ICF and discharged.
Kilpauk Traffic Investigation Inspector Appadurai told Express that the lorry operated under Zone 6 of the Chennai Corporation, but the driver was yet to be identified. “The lorry was ferrying garbage from Otteri to the Kodungaiyur dumping yard,” he added.
He added that information about the lorry driver had been sought from the Chennai Corporation, which would subsequently lead to his arrest.