In a tragic accident on the Chennai- Bangalore National Highway, nine people died when a private company’s bus hit a mini truck on Sunday afternoon. The villagers in the mini truck from Nemili Taluk in Vellore District were on their way to attend a funeral in Damal.

The 24 villagers, on their way to a funeral, were crammed into a mini truck. Driving along NH48 also known as GWT Road, the mini truck had to take a right turn to proceed towards Ambedkar Colony in Damal.

According to the police, the mini truck driver tried taking a u-turn in the middle of the highway. As the mini truck proceeded to make a u-turn along one of the unauthorized openings on the median, a private company’s bus collided with the mini truck from behind.

The police has confirmed the death of nine of the passengers. 7 women identified as Parimalam, 45, Chinnaponnu, 65, Panjami, 50, Thulukkanam, 50, Muthammal, 60, Rajikanni, 50, Indira, 40, died on the spot.

Sumithra, 45, was rushed to the Government General Hospital but succumbed to her injuries. One man Alavattan has also died in the accident. Two of the villagers have been admitted in the hospital.

Other villagers managed to jump out of the truck and escape the collision.

The incident comes weeks after another tragic accident on a national highway in Tamil Nadu . A league cricketer died and six other players were injured when the cars they were travelling in collided and fell off a bridge in Namakkal district.

Nine league players were in two cars, travelling from Kandapalayam after they had played a match. They were in Namakkal district to play a match held as part of the Pongal festival. After the game, they were on their way to a hotel in Paramathi Velur. The accident took place at around 4.15 pm. The police told TNM that both cars were racing each other near Paramathi Velur when the incident took place.