
KRISHNAGIRI: Four people and 18 buffaloes were killed near Bargur after a lorry carrying onions collided with a truck transporting buffaloes on the Krishnagiri-Chennai National Highway early on Sunday. Three others who suffered injuries are currently under treatment.
According to police, V Narayanan (55) was transporting onions in a lorry from Maharashtra to Chennai. When the vehicle reached Athimarathupallam near Bargur, the driver lost control, rammed through the median, entered the opposite lane, and crashed his lorry into an oncoming truck carrying 42 buffaloes from Andhra Pradesh to Coimbatore.
Spotting the wayward lorry, a mini truck, which swerved to narrowly avoid a crash, lost control and turned turtle.
While lorry driver Narayanan, and truck driver R Aruljothi (54) and his assistant S Manikandan (42) — both from Dindigul — died on the spot, Narayanan’s assistant Karim Sabir Bagwan (38) of Solapur, who suffered severe injuries, died while being taken to the Government Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital (GKMCH) for treatment, police said.
Eighteen buffaloes died, 18 were injured, and six escaped unhurt, police added.
B Vijay (38), K Kadhar Basha (36) and R Rajesh (31), all from Nandyal district in Andhra Pradesh, who were in the truck transporting buffaloes, were injured in the accident and admitted to GKMCH. Vijay was later referred to the Government Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital.
Road cleared within few hours after accident in Krishnagiri
Bargur DSP R Muthukrishnan, Krishnagiri SP P Thangadurai, Bargur tahsildar K Ponnala visited the accident spot. The road was cleared within a few hours, with traffic returning to normal. Regional joint director of the animal husbandry department Dr S Elangovan and his team rescued the injured buffaloes and sent them to a farm in Dharmapuri.
The mini-truck driver, S Ekambaram (34), lodged a complaint at the Bargur police station regarding the incident. Oppathavadi VAO Tamilarasu also filed a complaint against the truck carrying the buffaloes, for transporting them in unsafe conditions and without proper documents. A case has been booked under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Further probe is on.