At least six people, including a police constable on duty, were killed in a road accident near the Kurukkathi check post on the Tiruppur-Karur district border in the early hours of Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Ravichandran, 36, a constable attached to the Vellakoil police station; Senthil, 48, the lorry driver; Ram, 22; Narasimhan, 65; Santhalakshmi, 60; and Balaji, 36.
Details of the accident
The accident occurred near the Vellakoil police check post, where four police personnel, including Ravichandran, were on night duty. According to police sources, at around 3am on Wednesday, a lorry transporting wooden logs from Cuddalore to Vellakoil hit a barricade placed in front of the check post. The lorry driver, Senthil, parked the vehicle on the roadside and sought the help of Constable Ravichandran to reposition the damaged barricade.
While the two were working on the road, a speeding SUV travelling from Mayiladuthurai to Coimbatore rammed into them. After hitting the constable and the driver, the SUV careened forward and crashed into the parked lorry. In the impact, all six people died on the spot.
Response and investigation
After receiving information, Vellakoil police rushed to the scene and recovered the bodies, which were later sent to Tiruppur Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination. Senior officials, including Coimbatore Range DIG P Swaminathan, inspected the accident site. A case has been registered, and a detailed investigation is under way.
