A 46-year-old lorry driver, who was trapped inside the driver’s cabin following an accident, was rescued by the police personnel attached to Kaveripakkam after struggling for nearly 8 hours on Wednesday.
Traffic was disrupted along the National Highway 46 as the Chennai-Bangalore stretch was totally blocked due to the accident.
According to police, Pongavanam of Vandavasi was driving an empty container lorry towards Chennai from Bangalore. He lost control of the vehicle after the front tyre burst, when he was nearing Otcheri.
The lorry hit the median and turned turtle, falling over to the opposite lane (Chennai-Bangalore stretch). Two lorries - one loaded with paddy and the other with diesel - which were proceeding towards Bangalore from Chennai, collided with the container. In the back-to-back accidents, lorry drivers Suresh (26) of Chitheri near Arni, cleaner Ravi (44) and Raj Kumar (32) of Alangayam in Vellore escaped with minor injuries, said police and added that the accident took place around 1.30 am on Wednesday at Duraiperumpakkam Junction. On information, police personnel attached to the Highway Patrol and Kaveripakkam Station rushed to the spot. They rescued Suresh and Kumar and shifted them to the Government Hospital at Walajapet. However, the police struggled to rescue Pongavanam, who was trapped inside the damaged cabin of the container.
“We rescued Pongavanam at around 9.15 am. We struggled hard to rescue him since 1.30 am on Wednesday.
We used wielding machine to cut through the driver cabin portion to reach Pongavanam. His legs were tangled amidst the lower portion of the driver cabin,” said a policeman of Kaveripakkam Station.
Pongavanam, however, escaped with minor injuries. He was admitted to the Government Hospital at Walajapet, he further said.
The traffic along Chennai-Bangalore stretch was restored around 10.30 am. The Bangalore-Chennai stretch was opened for two-way traffic until then, he added.