CHENNAI: Loose gravel dumped on the road, a regular occurrence in Chennai, claimed the life of a 24-year-old food delivery executive in Perumbakkam in the wee hours of Monday.
The victim was identified as Karthikeyan, a resident of Ponniyammal Koil Street in Medavakkam who worked as a delivery executive for a food aggregator.
The accident occurred around 1 am Karthikeyan was returning home on his bike after completing a delivery in Sholinganallur. As he was passing through Semmozhi Poonga Road near Perumbakkam bus stop, his bike hit a pile of stone gravel that was dumped on the road. In the dark, he reportedly failed to spot it in time, officials said.
His vehicle skidded for about 50 metres before crashing into an iron tank placed on the roadside. Karthikeyan sustained severe head injuries in the impact and was declared dead at the scene by emergency personnel who arrived in a 108 ambulance.
The Pallikaranai Traffic Investigation Wing police rushed to the spot, seized the body, and sent it to the government hospital in Chromepet for post-mortem examination. A case has been registered, and an investigation is under way.
Preliminary reports suggest the unattended pile of gravel on the road was the primary cause of the fatal accident. Police are investigating how the gravel came to be dumped there and who is responsible for it.