Three pilgrims from Kerala died, while six others were injured in an accident near Tirumangalam in the district on Wednesday.
A group of pilgrims from Kerala met with an accident at Nallamanaickan Patti on Madurai-Virudhunagar highway in the wee hours of Wednesday when the driver of the vehicle dozed off at the wheel. Police said Arun Kumar (33), Sajeeth (46) and Madhu (30) succumbed to injuries while Surendhra Kumar, Anil Kumar, Sibiraj and Sreejeeth sustained injuries and were admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai. The condition of Sibiraj was critical, police said.
According to the statement of the driver Sreejeeth, the tour party was from Pothencode in Thiruvananthpuram in Kerala. They had embarked on a week-long tour of temples in Kerala and Southern TN and were proceeding to Madurai en route to Rameswaram.
When the vehicle was nearing Kallikkudi, Sreejeeth dozed off but woke up and applied brakes. However, he lost control and rammed the car into a median. The car overturned and skidded across the road before rolling down into a pit. Kallikkudi police registered case and said relatives of victims had reached Madurai.