5 students killed on ECR as car crashes into bus, 17 hurt

The accident occurred around 1.30 am on Thursday. The deceased were identified as T Karthik (21) of Teynampet, C Dilip Kumar (20) of Villivakkam, M Nethaji (21) of Kolathur, and Mohamed Thammem (20) from Aminijikarai and Sai Satish (21) from Perambur. While Karthik was a law student, Dilip, Nethaji and Mohamed were engineering students. Sai was a BCA student who also worked part-time at a departmental store. The bus had 52 passengers on board, who were heading to Cuddalore from Ennore after attending a wedding.

Police suspect that Dilip could have been driving the car, adding that he could have been trying to overtake a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus when the vehicle collided head-on with the private bus. The road does not have a central median to keep the two lanes separate.

In the impact of the collision, all five youngsters who occupied the car were killed on the spot, while the car was completely damaged.

People travelling on the TNSTC bus and the private bus, too, helped police rescue the victims trapped in the mangled remains of the car. The Mamallapuram police have registered a case and the bodies were shifted to the Government Hospital in Mamallapuram for an autopsy. Meanwhile, the driver of the private bus later surrendered at a police station.

Following the accident, vehicles piled up on both sides of the road from Mamallapuram to Puducherry. It took the police nearly two hours to clear the traffic jam.