A trip to visit a newborn baby of a relative turned tragic for a family of 12 from Coimbatore on Saturday as a road accident snatched away the lives of five of them.
The accident happened in Palakkad district in Kerala near Walayar around 2.30 pm on Saturday. A family of 12 was travelling to a relative’s house in Chandra Nagar near Palakkad in an omni van. The van was driven by 30-year-old Mohammed Shah Jahan, a resident of Karumbukkadai area in Coimbatore.
As the vehicle crossed Walayar, on Tamil Nadu- Kerala border, and neared 14 Mile it suddenly found itself speeding into a container lorry parked on the side of the road. Unable to stop the vehicle, the van crashed into the lorry.
Five members including the driver died on the spot due to the impact of the crash. The other deceased have been identified as Fairoj Begum (65), Alfa Sufiya (2), Sherin (13) and Riyan (9). The accident also left seven others inside the van severely injured, they were rescued by the passers-by on the highway and sent to Coimbatore Government Hospital and other private hospitals in Coimbatore.
The Palakkad police then arrived at the spot and recovered the bodies of the deceased and sent them to Palakkad for autopsy. Primary inspection of the spot and questioning done by the RTO officers have revealed that there was no problem with the vehicle, according to reports. The police have also registered an FIR and are investigating the driver of the container.
A year ago, an Erode man Babu was killed in an accident on the same stretch in a similar manner. The auto in which he and two of his friends were travelling lost control and rammed into a stationary container truck parked on the side of the road past Walayar checkpost. Though initially the three men were rushed to hospital, Babu succumbed to injuries in the hospital.