COIMBATORE: Five members of a family, including three women, were killed after the car they were travelling in crashed into a stationary water tanker on the Pollachi-Udumalpet stretch of National Highway 83 in Coimbatore on Sunday.

The deceased were identified as Kanagaraj (45), an employee of a private firm, his wife Poorani alias Uma Maheswari (39), their elder daughter Aarthi (25), a graduate, younger daughter Narmadha (20), a third-year physiotherapy student, and their relative Raman (35), all residents of Madukkarai area in Coimbatore.

The police said the family was returning from a temple near Udumalpet in Tiruppur district when the accident occurred. Kanagaraj, who was driving the car, lost control of the vehicle and rammed into the rear of a stationary water tanker near Nallampalli Pirivu.

The tanker had been parked along the road to water plants on the highway median. The car was completely mangled in the impact, fatally injuring all five occupants. A police team from Gomangalam police station retrieved the bodies from the wreckage and sent them to the Government Hospital, Pollachi, for post-mortem examination. The accident temporarily disrupted traffic on the busy highway before the police cleared the area. The Gomangalam Police have registered a case and are investigating.