THRISSUR: Eight people, including seven engineering students, were killed after a Tamil Nadu-registered car rammed into a parked goods truck on the National Highway at Panambikkunnu Centre in Kaipamangalam around midnight on Friday.
The victims included students of an engineering college in Dindigul and the car driver. Five of the deceased have been identified as Viswam of Salem, Surya of Dindigul, Santhosh and Prasanna of Madurai, and Yuvasanjith of Dindigul. The identification of the remaining victims is under way.
The car was travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur when it crashed into the rear of a Maharashtra-registered truck parked along a diversion on an under-construction stretch of the National Highway. The impact left the car completely mangled, forcing rescuers to cut open the vehicle to retrieve the occupants. All eight are believed to have died on the spot.
According to preliminary information, the car was travelling at high speed. Three goods trucks were reportedly parked on the roadside at the time of the accident. People sleeping inside one of the trucks alerted local residents, following which police and Fire and Rescue personnel rushed to the spot.
Senior police officers also reached the scene and supervised the rescue operation. The bodies were shifted to a private hospital in Kodungallur for further procedures.
The Kaipamangalam police have launched an investigation into the accident. Police are examining the vehicle's speed, road conditions, lighting and safety arrangements at the diversion.
The accident occurred on a section where National Highway construction is under way. Local residents said accidents were frequent in the area and raised concerns over heavy vehicles being parked along the roadside in the construction zone.
