TIRUPATTUR: Six persons were killed and more than 60 injured in a road accident after the SETC bus collided with an omnibus on the Chennai-Bangalore highway (NH44) at Chettiappanur village near Vaniyambadi town in Tirupattur in the early hours of Saturday.
The SETC bus heading towards Chennai from Bangalore on the national highway ran past the median after the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with the omnibus coming in the opposite direction, heading towards Bangalore from Chennai. The drivers of both buses died on the spot.
Following the incident, passersby alerted the Vaniyambadi taluk police station and the police officials along with fire services and rescue team personnel arrived on the spot and rescued 64 persons, who were mostly passengers and sent them to the Vaniyambadi Government Hospital.
However, before reaching the hospital three including a woman lost their lives. Currently, 27 have been shifted to the Vellore Government Medical College and Hospital in Adukkamparai and others are receiving treatment at Vaniyambadi GH.
The deceased were identified as Mohammed Fairoz (37) from Pudur in Vaniyambadi, B. Ajith (25) from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, S. Krithika (35) from Guduvanchery, K. Elumalai (47) from Ulundurpet, Kallakurichi, and N. Syed Mumtaz (42) from Kolar, Karnataka and Raju, from Adyar, Chennai.
Elumalai and Syed were the drivers of government and omnibuses, respectively.
Tirupattur Collector D Bhaskara Pandian, Tirupattur SP Albert John, and Vaniyambadi MLA, G Senthil Kumar, inspected the accident spot and met with the injured persons and their families at the government hospital in Vaniyambadi town.