Four of a family returning from funeral die in Tirupur accident; villagers blame single-lane road

COIMBATORE: Four people from the same family, including an 11-year-old boy, were killed and 12 others injured in a head-on collision between a van and jeep near Madathukulam in Tirupur on Tuesday.

Police said Thiagarajan (45) from Palani in Dindigul district, his wife Preethi (40), sons Jeevapriyan (13) and Jayapriyan (11), along with his father Natrayan (75) and mother Manonmani (65) were returning home after attending a funeral in Kinathukadavu when the mishap happened on Tuesday night.

Thiagarajan, who runs a grocery shop, was behind the wheel. “At Maiwadi area, a Palakkad-bound van Palakkad from Madurai collided head-on with the jeep,” police said.

Thiagarajan, Preethi and Jayapriyan were crushed to death on the spot, while Manonmani succumbed to injuries on the way to hospital. Two others - Natrayan and Jeevapriyan - were rushed to Udumalpet Government Hospital and then to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for further treatment.

Of the 23 persons in the van driven by Sivan (38) of Palakkad, 12 persons got injured and were treated at Udumalpet GH before discharge. The Madathukulam police registered a case and further inquiries are going on.

Villagers claimed that as four laning works are ongoing at a snail’s pace from Pollachi to Kamalapuram in the Dindigul district, the vehicles in both directions were forced to take a single lane, resulting in mishaps. They also sought to place adequate warning boards to prevent mishaps.