2 schoolgirls die as lorry hits auto

CHENNAI: Two girls were killed and 11 others were injured when a ‘test drive’ lorry collided with an overcrowded share autorickshaw carrying school students near Sunguvarchatram, about 50km from Chennai, in Kancheepuram district on Tuesday. Police said the accident occurred around 4.30pm when 12 students of St Joseph Girls Higher Secondary School in Pannur in Tiruvallur district, were returning home.
The deceased were identified as Class 10 students S Shalini, 14, of Pallamathur and D Sindhu, 14, of Aimancherry near Sunguvarchatram. The injured students — R Angel, 14, K Monica, 12, G Sowmya, 16, G Suchitra, 11, S Surekha, 14, S Parkavi, 14, E Geetha, 15, B Jansi, 11, H Akalya, 12 and S Sulekha, 14, all residents of villages near Sunguvarchatram — were pulled out of the vehicle by passersby and police.
While seven injured were rushed to the Government General Hospital in Sriperumbudur, three were sent to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai. “Angel sustained head injuries, one girl fractured both hips and eight others had minor injuries,” said a doctor.
The lorry driver and the autorickshaw driver, who was also injured in the incident, abandoned their vehicles and fled, police said, adding that a search was on. An officer who visited the spot said both the vehicles may have been travelling too fast and might have collided while negotiating a curve on the narrow road near Sogandi village, about 2km from Sunguvarchatram. The sides of the road were at least two-foot deep, he said.
The front portion of the auto was fully damaged and police said they had to take the help of mechanics from a nearby workshop to help break a part of the driver’s cabin to pull the victims out.
Police said the lorry (TN 21 TC 545) was going from Sunguvarchatram to Tiruvallur, while the auto (TN 73 Y 3370) came in the opposite direction. A case has been registered.
Soon after the accident, a large number of people, including relatives of the accident victims, rushed to the government hospital.
Times News Network