4 of family, driver die as car rams govt bus

Karur: Four members of a family from Coimbatore and their driver were crushed to death after their car collided with a TNSTC bus at Kulithalai near Karur in the wee hours of Wednesday. The impact was so severe that the car was completely destroyed. The deceased were identified as S Selvaraj, 50, of Kuniyamuthur, his wife S Kalaiyarasi, 45, daughter S Agalya, 25, and son S Arun, 22. Driver Vishnu, 24, was from Villarasampatti in Erode district. The bus, which started from Pudukottai, was headed to Tirupur while the car was en route to Agneeswarar temple at Okkanadu Keelaiyur in Thanjavur when the accident occurred around 2.15am. Upon receiving information, Kulithalai police rushed to the scene and alerted Musiri fire department, as the car was stuck under the bus, making it difficult to retrieve the bodies.After an hour and a half of efforts, the fire department managed to recover the bodies, which were trapped in the wreckage. They were sent to Kulithalai govt hospital for post-mortem examination. District collector M Thangavel visited the accident site and later inspected the bodies at the govt hospital.