10 Sabari pilgrims from Telangana killed in Pudukkottai road accident

Five others have sustained grievous injuries, a senior police officer said, adding, some of the deceased were in their early twenties or early thirties.  “The incident happened  around 3 pm when the tempo in which the Sabarimala pilgrims were travelling from Karaikudi to Pudukkottai collided with a lorry that was coming from the opposite direction,” an officer said. 

Police said 14 pilgrims from Medak district of Telangana were returning after offering worship at Sri Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram when the accident occurred on the  Tiruchy-Rameswaram Highway. The lorry occupied the right-side of the divider-less, narrow road leading to the collision, he said. The bodies have been sent for autopsy. The injured have been admitted at the Pudukottai government hospital.

Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar announced that expenses in sending the bodies back to their native places would be met by the State government after post-mortem examination.