Cop among six killed in road accident near Tirupur

TIRUPUR: Six people, including a police constable on duty, died in a road accident near the Kurukkathi check post on the Coimbatore-Trichy National Highway in the early hours of Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as Ravichandran, 36, a constable attached to the Vellakoil police station; Senthil, 48, a truck driver; Ram, 22, a sport utility vehicle (SUV) driver from Alangulam and SUV passengers Narasimhan, 65, Santhalakshmi, 60, and Balaji, 36, of Mayiladuthurai. According to police, around 3 am, a truck transporting logs from Cuddalore to Vellakoil hit a barricade placed in front of the Kurukkathi check post. Truck driver Senthil parked the vehicle on the roadside and sought the help of constable Ravichandran, who was on duty at the check post, to reposition the damaged barricade. While the two were moving the barricade, a speeding sport utility vehicle travelling from Mayiladuthurai to Coimbatore hit them. After hitting the constable and the driver, the SUV rammed a stationary truck. All six people, including a woman in the SUV, died on the spot. On receiving information, the Vellakoil police rushed to the scene and recovered the bodies. The bodies were sent to the Tirupur Government Medical College Hospital for postmortem. Senior officials, including Coimbatore range DIG P Swaminathan and Tirupur district collector Manish Narnaware, inspected the accident site. A case has been registered, and a detailed investigation is under way. Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay announced compensation of Rs 30 lakh for the family of the constable who lost his life in the accident.