Chennai, Sept 18 (BPNS)

Six people were killed in a gory road accident on the Salem- Chennai highway at Pethanickenpalayam on Sunday morning. The truck rammed into the Omnibus that was parked on the road.

Five of those dead were passengers in the bus while the sixth person who died in the accident was the cleaner of the Omnibus.

The bus was heading to Chennai from Salem. The accident occurred at 12.30 am on Sunday.

The deceased are T. Thirunnavakarasu (61), his wife Vijaya (59), his son Ravikumar (47), relatives T. Senthil Velan (42), Subramani( 41),  and Dheepan (27) who is the cleaner of the bus. Tirunavakkarasu and his family members boarded the bus to proceed to Chennai to attend the puberty function of his granddaughter at Chennai.  Another relative Jayaprakash (41) suffered multiple injuries including fractures and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Salem.

Vazhapady Deputy Superintendent of Police, N. Shwetha while speaking to media persons said that Tirunavakkarasu was loading all the materials required for the function in the storage area of the Omnibus, and the cleaner, Dheepan was helping him when the truck rammed into the back side of the Omnibus.

The DSP said that Tirunavakkarasu, Deepan, Ravikumar, Subramani and Senthil Velan died on the spot while Vijaya suffered grave head injuries and was taken to the hospital where she was declared brought dead.

Salem district collector, S. Karmegam, Superintendent of Police, Sri Abhinav, and other senior officers visited the spot of the accident. Police is on search of the truck driver who is absconding.