Six killed, 16 injured in road accident near Ulundurpet in Tamil Nadu
KALLAKURICHI: Six people were killed and 16 injured in a road accident near Ulundurpet in the early hours of Wednesday when a van collided with a roadside tree.
According to police from Thirunavalur Police Station, 23 people from Mambakkam, near Kalavai in Ranipet district, and Ladavaram, near Arani in Tiruvannamalai district, had traveled to Thiruchendur for darshan on Tuesday. They were returning to their village the same night in a van owned by Pillaiyar (58) of Mambakkam and driven by Vasanthkumar (22) from the same village.
"At around 3:00 AM on Wednesday, the van lost control and crashed into a tree near Mettathur, in Kallakurichi district," a police officer said. The accident resulted in the deaths of R Murugan (47), M Sakthi (17), P Selvam (50), R Durai (34), K Ramalingam (48), and G Ravi (60), who died at the scene. Sixteen others, including the driver Vasanthkumar and van owner Pillaiyar, were injured.
The injured were taken to the Government Villupuram Medical College Hospital in Mundiyampakkam for treatment, while the bodies of the deceased were sent to Kallakurichi Government Medical College Hospital for postmortem.
Kallakurichi District Superintendent of Police, Rajat R Chaturvedi, inspected the accident site and held inquiries. "We are investigating further," a senior police official said, adding that a case has been registered at the Thirunavalur police station.