THRISSUR: Eight students of an engineering college in Tamil Nadu were killed in a road accident in central Keralam’s Thrissur district, police said on Saturday.
According to police, the deceased were students of an engineering college in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, and were travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur along NH-66.
Police have identified six of the deceased. Four of them—Surya, Yuvasanjith, Vishva and Johua—were from Dindigul, while Santhosh and Prasanna were from Madurai.
Police said the identities of two others are yet to be confirmed.
The accident occurred at around 11.40 pm on Friday, police said.
The car, which had a Tamil Nadu registration, collided with a Maharashtra-registered lorry parked on the highway at Panambikkunnu in Kaipamangalam near here.
Six students died on the spot, while two others were declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, police said.
The youth were pulled out of the car during a rescue operation carried out by residents, fire and rescue personnel and police. Their bodies were taken to the mortuary of Thrissur Medical College, police said.
Kaipamangalam police have registered a case against the lorry driver under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for culpable homicide.
The lorry driver went into hiding soon after the accident, police said.
According to the FIR, the lorry was illegally parked on the right side of the highway, and the car rammed into its rear.
Police said the lorry was parked near a barricaded section where traffic had been diverted as part of ongoing construction work.
The car was travelling at high speed, and the driver apparently failed to notice the diversion barricade before hitting the rear of the lorry, police said.
Police contacted the families of the deceased using the student identity cards recovered from the bodies. Some of the families were unaware that their children had travelled to Keralam, police said.
Postmortem examinations will begin after the families of the deceased reach Thrissur Medical College, police said.