Six killed, two injured as truck rams into omni bus

COIMBATORE: Six people, including three members of a family were killed as a speeding truck rammed into an stationary omni bus in Salem on Saturday night.

Police said G Thirunavukarasu, 61, his wife Vijaya, 60, son T Ravikumar, 41, their relatives T Senthilvelan, 46, Subramani, 40 and Deepan, 24, the bus cleaner died as the sand laden lorry hit the Chennai-bound bus on Salem-Chennai National Highways near Vazhapadi around 11.55 pm. Five died on the spot, while Vijaya succumbed to injuries on the way to hospital.

Two others, Madeswari, 60 and her son Jayaprakash, 40 were admitted to Salem Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital. As the private bus was on halt at the Pethanaickenpalayam Town Panchayat office, passengers were loading their luggage in the storage area on the right side of the bus, when the mishap happened.

Police said Thirunavukarasu, his family members and relatives were heading to Chennai to attend a family function, while the truck laden with sand was heading to Attur from Salem. The bodies have been sent to Attur Government Hospital for post-mortem.

Traffic was disrupted on the busy stretch for a while due to the accident. Ethapur police registered a case and arrested the truck driver Karthik from Namakkal and omni bus driver Parameshwaran.

Police said the accident could have been averted, if the omni bus had stopped on the service road instead of the NH. Salem District Collector S Karmegam, Superintendent of Police Sree Abhinav and other officials visited the accident spot on Sunday.