Lorry mows down three waiting at bus stop
CHENNAI: Three persons who were waiting at a bus stop at Ramapuram here were crushed to death by a tipper lorry in the wee hours of Sunday. The tragedy occurred around 2 am at the bus stop opposite MIOT Hospital when three men, all friends sharing a room, were waiting at the bus stop, police said.
Police suspect the tipper lorry driver, who was transporting construction debris, to have dozed off and swerved the vehicle into the bus stop on the roadside.The impact of the collision was so powerful that the entire bus stop shelter was destroyed and all three men died on the spot.
“They sustained grievous injuries on their head and hip and died of profuse loss of blood,” said a police officer investigating the case.A security guard of a nearby showroom told Express that he woke up to the huge noise and before he could realise what was happening, a broken brick from the bus shelter flew and fell just in front of him.
The three victims were identified as T Murali, 24, of Ekattur, R Sivakumar, 24, of Kollapatti in Krishnagiri district and K Murthy, 32, of Singarapuram in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. Police said all three were working in a bakery at Ramapuram and staying in the same room. Murthy had on Saturday quit the job and the other two had come to the bus stop to see him off.
Murthy is married to one Mahalakshmi and they have three children aged 4, 3 and a seven-month-old boy. He was working in Chennai for the last one year. “Murthy often went to his hometown on leave. Since it was becoming difficult to stay away from his family, he quit the job to go to his native place,” said Murthy’s elder brother Kalyanasundaram, who also works in another bakery in the city.
Police handed over Murthy’s body to Kalyanasundaram after autopsy. The tipper lorry driver, identified as Koteeswaran, fled the spot immediately after the accident and was later arrested on Sunday evening. He was remanded to judicial custody. Police said Koteeswaran had fallen asleep due to which he lost control of the vehicle.