Lorry loses control on Dhimbam ghat road, traffic hit for 12 hours

The lorry, transporting granite slabs from Mysore, was heading towards a factory in Mettur in Salem district when the accident occurred on Wednesday night around 9 pm. The lorry driver, Periasamy (40), lost control of the vehicle while making a sharp turn at the hairpin bend of the hill stretch.

The vehicle crashed into the side wall and came to a halt by ramming a huge tree. Police said that poor visibility due to heavy fog could be the reason behind the accident.

As the lorry remained hanging in a precarious condition with almost half its front portion in the air, Periasamy escaped miraculously by jumping off the vehicle. However, he suffered serious injuries and was rushed to Sathyamangalam Government Hospital by passer-bys. Due to the mishap, vehicles from both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka started piling up on either sides of the road since night. Thereafter, police stopped vehicles at Hassanur and Sathyamangalam check posts from further proceeding towards the ghat road.

After a long struggle, the State Highways Department and the police pulled aside the hanging lorry by engaging a crane. The harried public claimed that overloaded trucks continue to be a perennial problem on the ghat road that has as many as 27 hairpin bends.

They sought not to allow heavy vehicles through the hill stretch to avoid similar incidents which lead to long hours of traffic disruptions. They also lamented that they suffered without food and water throughout the night under harsh weather conditions.

In another accident, two devotees of Lord Ayyappa died on the spot after their van rammed a lorry on Salem-Coimbatore National Highway near Perundurai in Erode in the early morning hours of Thursday.

Three other devotees suffered injuries and were admitted to Perundurai Government Hospital. According to police, a group of 15 Ayyappa devotees from Katpadi in Vellore district were heading to the Sabarimala shrine when their van rammed the lorry from behind.

“The van had tried to overtake the lorry when the mishap happened around 5 am near Olapalayam ‘pirivu’. Two devotees, who were identified as Nagaraj (45) and Palani (40) succumbed to injuries on the spot. Three others were taken to the government hospital,” police said.

The Perundurai police have registered a case and further enquiries are on.