SALEM: A 10-year-old girl died when a tanker lorry rear-ended the car in which she was travelling with family on the national highway near Attur on Thursday night.
The girl's parents suffered serious injuries and have been admitted in hospital. The deceased was identified as E Keerthika (10) daughter of S Ezhumalai (34) and Jyothilakshmi (33), residents of Medavakkam in Chennai.
According to police. Ezhumalai and his wife Jyothilakshmi, children Aishwarya 12, Keerthika and Mithran 5 left Chennai by car on Thursday to go to Yercaud for a vacation. They were accompanied by their cousin Thirunavukarasu (45), his wife Devaki (33) and children Logesh (13) and Harimitha (10). Ezhumalai was driving the car.
Around midnight, when the car reached Thennangudipalayam, it got stuck in a traffic snarl on the national highway. Even as the car waited for the road to clear, a tanker lorry rammed into car from behind. While Keerthika, Ezhumalai and Jyothilakshmi were injured, the others escaped unhurt.
Attur rural police sent the injured to Attur GJH but Keerthika died on the way. The other two are receiving treatment at the hospital. Police arrested the truck driver A Velmurugan.