Chennai , 13 May (HS) : Six people, including a police constable on duty, were killed in a horrific road accident near Vellakovil in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur district during the early hours of Wednesday after a speeding car rammed into a stationary lorry near a highway police checkpoint.

The accident took place on the Karur National Highway when police personnel were engaged in clearing a lorry that had earlier collided with the median barrier near the Vellakovil checkpost. Police constable Ravichandran, who was part of the emergency operation, was assisting the lorry driver at the spot when the tragedy occurred.

According to police officials, a car travelling at high speed along the same stretch of the highway suddenly lost control and crashed into the parked lorry with tremendous force. The impact was severe, leaving the vehicles badly mangled and causing multiple deaths on the spot.

Constable Ravichandran, the lorry driver and four occupants of the car died instantly in the collision, police said. The accident created panic in the area and briefly disrupted traffic movement on the busy national highway.

Senior police officials and rescue teams rushed to the spot soon after receiving information about the crash. Rescue personnel recovered the bodies from the damaged vehicles and shifted them to a nearby government hospital for post-mortem examinations.

Police said efforts are underway to identify all the victims and inform their family members. Preliminary investigations indicate that overspeeding may have been a major factor behind the accident, though officials said a detailed probe is in progress to ascertain the exact cause.

The Vellakovil police have registered a case and launched an investigation. Traffic on the highway was later restored after authorities cleared the wreckage from the road.

The incident has triggered shock and grief among local residents, particularly over the death of the police constable who was on official duty at the time of the accident.

Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman