Driver half asleep at wheel, truck mishap leaves two dead

CHENNAI: Two persons died and three others were injured after a lorry met with an accident on the Outer Ring Road near Tambaram on Friday. Police said the driver was half asleep and have registered a case.

The lorry loaded with black limestones from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh was heading towards Chennai in the Minjur-Vandalur Outer Ring Road. In the early morning, when the lorry was speeding in ORR near Erumaiyur, its driver Lakshmanan (36) lost control of the vehicle, and the vehicle fell off the road.

In the impact, Siva Reddy and Varadaraju, who were sitting atop the stones in the rear of the truck got caught beneath the stones and died on the spot. The lorry driver Lakshmanan, his son Vasu and cleaner Subba Naidu (50), who were in the driver’s cabin, suffered severe injuries.

On information, the Tambaram Traffic police and the Fire and Rescue Services team rushed to the spot and admitted the injured to the Chromepet Government Hospital and sent the bodies for post-mortem.

The police have registered a case and are making further inquiry.