Six killed in two road accidents in Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu

CHENNAI: Six people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed and two others injured in two separate road accidents in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

In the first accident, three employees of a private company died after the car they were travelling in crossed the median and collided head-on with a lorry, near Keelambi on the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway in Kancheepuram on Friday morning.

Kalaiselvi K (39), Selvaganapathi M (28), C Jayavel Nagraj (28), and Kamaraj N (30), employees of a Hosur-based firm, were on their way to Chennai to attend a corporate meeting. The vehicle was driven by M Manohar (39).
Based on preliminary investigation, the police suspect that Manohar may have dozed off at the wheel lost control, and the car climbed the median and entered the opposite carriageway, where it collided with an oncoming lorry travelling towards Vellore.

Kalaiselvi and Selvaganapathi died on the spot, while Manohar succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital. Jayavel and Kamaraj are undergoing treatment at the Kancheepuram Government Hospital.

In the second accident, three people, including a teenager, were killed after a lorry allegedly rammed into their car from behind near Janakipuram on the Tiruchy-Chennai National Highway in Chengalpattu around 10 pm on Thursday.

The victims were identified as Gopu V (46) of Shanmugapuram in Puducherry, his son L Dhanesh (15), and P Ilanchezhiyan (54), who was driving the car. The police said they were travelling to Chennai airport to receive a relative arriving from abroad.

The lorry that was allegedly trying to overtake the car hit it from behind, forcing the vehicle into the median and overturn. Gopu and Dhanesh died on the spot, while Ilanchezhiyan died on the way to the Chengalpattu Government Hospital in an ambulance.

The police sent the bodies for post-mortem examinations and are examining CCTV footage from the highway to identify the vehicle and the driver, who fled the scene before the police arrived.

Traffic on the busy National Highway was affected for some time after the crash. Separate cases have been registered in both incidents under Sections 281 (rash driving) and 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further investigation is under way.