CHENNAI: Traffic came to a standstill for nearly five km along the Poonamallee High Road due to the AIADMK general council meeting on Monday. The vehicles moved at a snail's pace, leaving the motorists in a lurch.
A sea of cadre were seen greeting Edappadi K Palaniswami as he was leaving the venue after the meeting. At least six ambulances got stuck as the EPS convoy halted at several places. When motorists started honking to clear the road for the ambulances to pass, the AIADMK cadre allegedly threatened them to remain quiet.
Surrounded by his supporters, Palaniswami left the venue in Vanagaram by 1:10 pm. More than 10 vehicles formed a convoy and moved towards the Marina Beach. The police blocked the Vanagaram-Ambattur Road Junction and it took around two hours for the traffic to return to normalcy.
Ambulance in the midst
An ambulance that was some 200m away from the EPS convoy took 15 minutes to cross the stretch. Another ambulance which was plying on the other side of the road also got caught up in the traffic. Minutes later, the convoy stopped near the Maduravoyal flyover and this caused a traffic jam.
An ambulance that was stuck on the flyover was diverted in a different direction. When the convoy again stopped at Koyambedu bridge blocking the entrance, two ambulances got caught up in the melee. "Motorists kept honking to make way for the ambulance, and this agitated the cadre. They threatened the motorists to remain clam as their leader was greeting his supporters," said a police officer on duty.
Out of control
Later, several district and state functionaries followed the convoy and stopped in the middle of the road and exchanged greetings with the cadre. The plea from police to clear traffic fell on deaf ears, as supporters picked an argument.
Some cars came to an abrupt halt when they noticed a liquor shop. This almost led to an accident. The cadre were seen rushing to the shop to buy booze in order to celebrate.
Two killed as lorry rams into bus, van
CHENNAI: Two people died and more than 13 others were injured near Melmaruvathur after a lorry lost control and rammed into a bus and a van on Monday. The van was headed to the AIADMK General Council meeting in Vanagaram.According to Melmaruvathur police, the deceased were identified as B Annamalai and S Parasuraman.
The two were part of a group that was coming from Tiruvannamalai. The 15-member-group was travelling in a van. Around 5:30 am when the van reached Rettai Eri near the Chennai-Tiruchy Highway, a lorry that was headed for Tiruchy lost control, ran over the median and hit the van. The lorry also hit an omnibus.