TN: Mother, infant among three killed in highway crash; road accidents on rise

Chennai, Sept 1 (IANS) Three persons, including a one-year-old girl, were killed in a tragic accident on the Tiruchi-Chennai National Highway near Siruganur in the early hours of Monday when the car they were travelling in rammed a stationary government bus that had developed a technical snag.

The deceased were identified as S. Yashodha, 31, of Pudhupatti in Tenkasi district, her infant daughter Anuvanjana, and the car driver Vijay Babu, 31. Two others travelling in the car - M. Selvakumar, Yashodha’s husband, and M. Joseph - sustained injuries but survived.

Police sources stated that the family was en route to Chennai from Tenkasi when the accident occurred around 1:30 a.m. The bus had broken down and was parked by the roadside, and as the car driver attempted to overtake another vehicle, he lost control and crashed into the rear of the bus, killing himself and the mother and the child instantly.

Highway patrol and bystanders rushed to the scene, and the injured were transported to the hospital, where they received outpatient treatment.

The bodies were sent to the Tiruchi Government Hospital for postmortem before being handed over to relatives.

Traffic on the busy highway was disrupted for more than an hour until the wreckage was cleared.

Locals complained that poor lighting and inadequate warning signals for stationary vehicles have repeatedly contributed to accidents on this stretch. This tragedy is the latest in a series of fatal mishaps reported across Tamil Nadu in recent days.

Near Paramakudi on the Madurai–Ramanathapuram highway, four persons, including three family members and a driver, were killed when a rental car collided with a mini-lorry.

In Mayiladuthurai district, two people, a daily-wage labourer and a tribal sanitary worker, lost their lives when a government bus went out of control and rammed into them before crashing into a house at Sirkazhi.

In Erode district, two motorcyclists died in a head-on collision near Puliampatty, while in Tirupattur, a toddler was accidentally run over by his father’s tractor in a heartbreaking incident.

Despite some reports of a marginal dip in road accidents in places such as Madurai due to stricter enforcement, the state continues to witness recurring fatalities, highlighting the urgent need for stronger safety measures on roads, at workplaces, and in residential areas.

--IANS

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