DHARMAPURI: AT least four people died and five others suffered injuries after a paddy truck went out of the driver’s control and rammed two trucks and two cars on the Thoppur ghat road on Wednesday evening. Police said the casualties might rise as several people suffered burns as the truck went up in flames.
Around 5 pm, when the truck approached the twin bridge near on the Dharmapuri-Salem highway, the driver lost control and the vehicle rear-ended three cars and two trucks.
Two cars were trapped under the truck, which went up in flames. One truck moved off the twin bridge and fell into 35-foot gorge. Another truck suffered minor damage, police said.
Vinothkumar (32) of Coimbatore and seven of his family members, including his wife and a newborn baby, were in the other car. They were returning home from Bengaluru after attending a function. All the four victims were in the car, and their identities could not be established immediately, police said. Efforts were underway to rescue the others. Illango, Sathish and Kandhasamy of Namakkal were in the other car. They suffered minor injuries, police said.
A police officer stated, “Three people who were trapped in a car under the burning truck died on the spot. Another person died while being taken to the Government Hospital in Salem. Three people with severe burn injuries have been transferred to Salem Government Hospital, while one person was sent to Omalur Government Hospital and another injured was admitted to Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital.”
Traffic jam
Collector K Santhi and Superintendent of Police Stephen Jesupadham inspected the rescue works. Due to the accidents severe traffic jam was reported between Dharmapuri and Salem. Staff from the Palayampudur toll gate diverted traffic in a single lane to accommodate vehicle movement.
Tollgate staff reported that “traffic jams up to over 12 km have been reported due to the accidents and efforts are underway to regulate traffic.”
In 2020, a similar accident took place in the stretch when a truck rammed 12 vehicles which left four people dead and dozen injured. In 2022, due to frequent accidents, the Thoppur ghat road was declared a black spot.
According to a study conducted by the Regional Transport Office, between 2012 and 2021, 558 accidents occurred in Thoppur which left 684 people were injured and 208 people dead.
In 2022, 92 people were injured and nine deaths were reported. In 2023 also nine fatalities were reported in the stretch.
In December 2023, NHAI announced that an elevated highway would be constructed in Thoppur at the cost of Rs 775 crore.