Chennai, September 9(BPNS)

Four women were killed when the passenger van in which they were traveling rammed into a water tanker  lorry on Thursday morning at Sillanathanam village at Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu.

The deceased women identified as G. Selvaranai (48), Santhiya (48), Jothi ( 40) and Manimeghalai (20) were workers of a home décor firm in Thoothukudi district.

Police said that the van was carrying 17 women workers of a home décor company against a water tanker. Sources said that the accident was due to the rash driving of the driver of the  van who took the women to the company before 6.30 am when the attendance punching commences.

13 women workers in the van other than four dead suffered injuries. Drivers of the van and lorry were also injured thus taking the total injured in the accident to 15. Bodies of the four women have been sent for postmortem before being handed over to the relatives.

Puthiyamathur Police rushed to the spot for rescue operations and to remove the injured to the hospitals. Police and local people helped retrieve the bodies from the van which was badly mangled. The locals and police cut open the van and then took those who were trapped inside the van to the Thoothukudi Government Medical College hospital.