Tamil Nadu: Minor-driven car ploughs into hut, one dead

COIMBATORE: A car driven by a minor boy ploughed into a hut, resulting in the death of a woman who was sleeping inside, in Erode on Sunday night.

Police identified the deceased as Karpagavalli (35), wife of Karupannan from Jallikalmedu on Bhavani-Mettur Road. Police said the boy, aged 17 from Periyar Nagar in Tirupur, had visited the house of his relative in the Bhavani area in Erode for the Tamil New Year.

Around midnight, the boy, who is yet to learn to drive thoroughly, developed a desire to go on a drive in the car parked in front of the house. Without informing anyone, the boy took the keys and left the house in the car.

Police said he lost control while nearing the Jallikalmedu area. “The car crashed into a tender coconut stall and ran berserk further to plough into a hut along the roadside. The woman who was sleeping inside on a cot was crushed to death. Her husband Karupannan, however, escaped unhurt,” police said.

Police said the boy, too, suffered severe injuries in the mishap as the airbag in the car had blasted. On receiving the information, the Bhavani police rushed to the spot and sent the body of the woman for a postmortem at Government Medical College and Hospital in Perundurai.

The injured boy has been admitted to a private hospital in Erode. The Bhavani police have registered a case, and further inquiries are underway.

Fertilizer-laden lorry overturns in Krishnagiri

In another mishap at Denkanikottai in Krishnagiri, a lorry laden with fertilizer bundles overturned on Monday.

The lorry from Thoothukudi was bound for a fertilizer shop in Andevanapalli village near Denkanikottai when it toppled while maneuvering a narrow road near Salivaram.

Driver Perumal, who sustained severe injuries, was admitted to the Denkanikottai Government Hospital.

The Denkanikottai police have registered a case, and further investigations are on.