Six Madhya Pradesh tourists killed in accident near Thoothukudi

Among the six victims, two of them were women. Police said the group had come to witness the Pongal celebrations in Madurai and had planned to visit Kanniyakumari as part of its trip. From Madurai, the visitors had started by a van around midnight on Tuesday so that they could reach Kanniyakumari before the sun rise.

When the van was passing Thalavaipuram on the Madurai-Kanniyakumari National Highway around 3 am, the vehicle hit a parapet of a bridge and fell down.

In the impact, Ramesh Kumar Thovani, Lal Chand Somechani, his brother Diggam Das, Vinthya Bhai, Kanchiya Lal and his wife Rekha Savelani were killed on the spot. Seven others, who sustained injuries, were rushed to Tirunelveli GH. All of them were declared safe. After first aid they were taken to a private hospital.

After post-mortem, the six bodies was sent to Madurai airport to be airlifted to their native places.

Thoothukudi SP P Mahendran inspected the accident spot and carried out inquiries. Kayathar Police have registered a case and are investigating. 

Preliminary investigation revealed that driver Muthukamatch from Madurai, dozed of at the wheel when th vehicle was moving at a high speed, which led to the accident. Police also said that driver too sustained injuries.