TIRUNELIVELI: A six-year-old boy was killed, and five others were critically injured when a car rammed into a parked lorry on the Tirunelveli-Madurai four-lane highway near Gangaikondan on Monday morning. The family was on its way from Cuddalore to the Tiruchendur temple.

According to police, the deceased, Bosik, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Government Hospital in Tirunelveli but died shortly afterwards as treatment failed.

The injured are Sennilavan (29) of Pudhu Nagar, Virudhachalam, Cuddalore district, his wife Deepa (32); and relatives Gunasundari, Pappa (86) and Mallika. All of them are receiving intensive treatment in the hospital. Bosik was the son of Sennilavan's brother Silambarasan, a police source said.

The six had set out for Tiruchendur by car at midnight on Sunday. On Monday morning, while travelling near Gangaikondan, Sennilavan, who was driving, unexpectedly rammed into the rear of a lorry parked by the roadside.

Based on the information, Gangaikondan police rushed to the spot, rescued the six trapped in the wreckage and sent them to the hospital. Police have registered a case and are questioning the lorry driver, Umalraj of Indira Colony, Virudhunagar district.