Vehicular traffic hit on Bargur ghat road for 10 hours as lorry topples

Sources said the lorry, which was carrying sugar sacks, was proceeding towards Erode from Karnataka, when it lost control and toppled on the first hair pin bend of the road. While driver Mujib (40) from Karnataka suffered injuries, the lorry owner accompanying him escaped unhurt. Since the road was narrow, vehicles got stranded on either side until the toppled lorry was removed around 11am on Wednesday. 

A 26-year-old army man was crushed to death and his twin brother seriously injured after a tree fell on their two-wheeler on the Coonoor-Mettupalayam Road on Wednesday.

 According to police, the tree was uprooted following heavy rains in the area the previous night. The incident took place when S Pradeep and Brahadeesh, hailing from Palakkad in Kerala, were heading to the Madras Regimental Centre at Wellington in Coonoor. The twins wanted to obtain a few certificates required to process home loan from the bank. While Pradeep served in the army, his brother was studying at a college in Palakkad.  “The duo had set out from Palakkad in a two-wheeler driven by Pradeep. While nearing Coonoor, a huge tree became unstable and fell on them,” police said. On receiving information, the Coonoor police rushed to the spot and sent the critically injured brothers to the Government Hospital for treatment. While Pradeep succumbed to injuries on the way, Brahadeesh is undergoing treatment at the hospital. Branches of the tree also fell on a car which was in front their two-wheeler. However, the car’s two occupants escaped unhurt.

 Due to the tree fall, traffic was affected on the Coonoor-Mettupalayam Road for over an hour. With the onset of rains, the local public have urged the district administration to identify weak trees on arterial stretches and remove them to prevent similar incidents.