Four persons were killed and at least 15 persons were injured in two road accidents in Virudhunagar district in the early hours of Sunday.
In the first accident reported under Nathampatti police station limits, two persons travelling in a van were killed after the speeding vehicle had a head-on collision with a State-run bus on Madurai-Srivilliputtur highway.
The deceased were idenitified as G. Raghu of Tholur and the van driver M. Sridharan of Madurai. Their bodies have been kept in the Government Hospital here.
The police said the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus was proceeding from Uthagamandalam to Shencottah with around 40 passengers.
When the bus was passing through the Alagapuri-Krishnankoil stretch, a van which was proceeding towards Madurai from Rajapalayam, hit against the bus around 2 am.
The driver of the van, Sridharan, had reportedly sped the vehicle and lost control. Both Raghu and Sridharan were killed on the spot.
“People travelling in another vehicle which was following the van came to the rescue of the passengers who were trapped inside the van,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Srivilliputtur), M. Sabarinathan.
Ten persons travelling in the van were injured. Among them were one Karuppaiah and Pasapriyan, who were critically injured. They were rushed to the Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital.
While two of the injured were admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, others were taken to the GH here.
Nathampatti police have registered a case.
Two killed near Amathur
In the second accident reported near Virudhunagar, two persons were killed and five others were injured when a speeding car rammed against a parapet wall of a culvert near Amathur.
According to the police, the deceased are P. Veerapandi (48) of Anaiyur and J. Vetri (30) of Sivakasi.
The police said the family of G. Poorna Chandrasekar (47) were returning home in Sivakasi after attending his convocation at his college in Coimbatore.
The driver, Veerapandi, had reportedly dozed off and the vehicle hit the parapet wall at around 3.30 a.m.
Others passengers in the car included Poorna Chandrasekar and his parents, J. Ganesh Prabhu (47) and G. Maheswari (46), and their relatives, K. Muthulakshmi (49) and M. Tharun Kumar (9).
The injured have been admitted to the Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital.
