THENI: Two Ayyappa devotees were killed after getting hit by a van near Chinnamanur, early on Friday. The van driver, Dinesh Kumar, has been arrested in connection with the case. The deceased were identified as Marichamy (55) of Andipatti Mela Street and B Rocky (35), from Andipatti.
A group of seven devotees from Andipatti Mela Street in Theni district left Andipatti around 9 pm on Thursday after tying the irumudi, proceeding on foot towards the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala. When the group reached the Veppampatti junction at Seelayampatti, on the Chinnamanur border, at around 5 am, five devotees were walking ahead while two were following behind.
At that time, a van carrying Ayyappa devotees from Dindigul district, driven by K Dinesh Kumar (34), from Melapadiyur village in Vedasandur taluk, proceeding towards Sabarimala, hit the two devotees.
The victims suffered serious head injuries and died on the spot. Upon information, Chinnamanur police sent the bodies to GH for postmortem.