Five persons, including a Special Sub-inspector (SSI), were killed and two others injured when the car in which they where travelling rammed a tree at Thoppu Chedi Colony near Marakkanam on Tuesday.
According to sources, seven persons hailing from West Mambalam and T Nagar in Chennai, had gone to Periyakalapattu near Puducherry to attend their friend’s wife’s funeral rites on Monday. While they were crossing Thoppu Chedi Colony on the way to Chennai, the SUV driver lost control of the vehicle and rammed the tree.
The police said Kathirvel (51), an SSI in the Chennai Metropolitan Police, private cab driver Suresh (35), Dinesh (26), Prakash (45), Arun (40), Jeyakumar (25) and Komagan (40) went to attend Kathirvel’s friend’s wife’s final rites. Kathirvel’s friend Jayabal was living with his family at Periyakalapattu. Jayabal’s wife had died 15 days ago and her final rites were held at his house on Tuesday.
Kathirvel and six others, who participated in the ceremony, started for Chennai around 4 pm. Suresh, son of Jeyaraman and a resident of T Nagar, was driving the SUV. While they where crossing Thoppu Chedi Colony-Ranganathapuram on the ECR, Suresh who was allegedly overspeeding, lost control and the vehicle crashed.
Five, including Suresh, SSI Kathirvel, Dinesh, Prakash and Arun died on the spot, while Jeyakumar and Komagan sustained severe injuries. Locals and road users rescued the trapped victims and rushed them to the Puducherry PIMS hospital.Jeyakumar and Komagan were said to be critical.