Six members of a family, including one-year-old girl, died on the spot while two others suffered grievous injuries, after their omni van rammed a stationed lorry from behind at Chinnagoundanur four road junction near Sankari on the Salem – Kochi National Highway in the early hours of Wednesday, September 6, 2023.
The victims were identified as P. Selvaraj, 48, of Periya Kuravampalayam in Gobichettipalayam taluk, R. Sanjana, 1, of Kondalampatti in Salem, and four others from Kuttapalayam Ingur in Perundurai, M. Arumugam, 49, S. Palanisamy, 50, P. Papathi, 47, and A. Manjula, 38. Two others R. Priya, 25, of Kondalampatti and A. Viki alias Vignesh, 35, suffered grievous injuries and were admitted to Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital in Salem. All the bodies were shifted to the Government Hospital (GH) at Sankari.
Police said Palanisamy’s daughter Priya was married to Rajadurai of Kondalampatti and had a child Sanjana. Since dispute prevailed between the couple, Priya’s parents, Palanisamy, Papathi, her uncle and aunt, Arumugam, Manjula, her relative Selvaraj and Arumugam’s son Vignesh, came to Kondalampatti in an omni van on Tuesday and held talks with Rajadurai’s family. While returning, family members also took Priya and Sanaja with them.
At 2.30 a.m. when the van was proceeding from Kondalampatti to Perundurai, the van, driven by Vignesh, rammed the lorry. In the impact, the front portion of the van was completely damaged.
CCTV footage revealed that after the van rammed the lorry, the lorry driver moved his vehicle from the spot without helping the victims. All the victims belong to Arunthathiyar community.
Salem Collector S. Karmegam inspected the accident spot and also met the victim’s relatives at Sankari GH. The Collector told the media that stringent action will be taken against persons who park their vehicles on the road and alongside the road and asked motorists to follow the rules.
Sankari police registered a case under Sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others and 304 (A) (causing death by negligence) of IPC. Superintendent of Police A.K. Arun Kabilan who inspected the spot said the lorry driver has been secured and a case was registered against him for causing the death of six persons.
