Coimbatore, Aug 2
Five people, including three women, were killed after their car rammed into the rear of a stationary lorry on the Pollachi-Udumalai National Highway near Nallampalli in Coimbatore district on Sunday.
The accident occurred in the afternoon when the car, carrying three women and two men, was travelling from Udumalai towards Pollachi. According to preliminary information, the lorry had been stationed along the highway while workers were engaged in watering plants along the roadside.
Police said the car, suspected to have been travelling at high speed, crashed into the rear of the lorry. The impact crushed the front portion of the vehicle, trapping all five occupants inside. They died on the spot.
Motorists and local residents alerted the police and emergency services. Rescue personnel reached the spot and retrieved the bodies from the mangled vehicle. They were later shifted to a government hospital for post-mortem examination.
Traffic on the highway was disrupted temporarily as police carried out rescue and recovery operations and cleared the damaged vehicles. A case has been registered and an investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the accident, including whether speeding or the positioning of the stationary lorry contributed to the collision.
The tragedy is the latest in a series of fatal accidents reported across Tamil Nadu in recent weeks.
On July 24, six people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed in two separate accidents in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts. Earlier, on July 18, three people died and five others were injured when a car carrying eight people crashed into a tanker lorry near Chengapalli on the Salem-Coimbatore National Highway in Tiruppur district.
On July 13, six people were killed and 41 injured in a collision involving an omni bus and a government bus near Vanchinagaram on the Tiruchy-Madurai National Highway.
The latest accident has renewed concerns over speeding and the risks posed by stationary vehicles on busy highways.
