What Happened in the Highway Crash that Killed a Mother and Infant?

Chennai, Sept 1 (NationPress) In a devastating incident, three individuals, including a one-year-old girl, lost their lives on the Tiruchi-Chennai National Highway close to Siruganur in the early hours of Monday. Their vehicle collided with a stationary government bus that was experiencing mechanical issues.

The victims have been identified as S. Yashodha, 31, from Pudhupatti in Tenkasi district, her infant daughter Anuvanjana, and the car driver, Vijay Babu, 31. Two others who were also in the vehicle, M. Selvakumar, Yashodha’s husband, and M. Joseph, suffered injuries but survived.

According to police reports, the family was traveling to Chennai from Tenkasi when the tragic accident occurred around 1:30 a.m. The bus had broken down and was parked on the roadside. As the car driver attempted to overtake another vehicle, he lost control and crashed into the back of the bus, resulting in the instant deaths of himself, the mother, and the child.

Highway patrol officers and bystanders quickly arrived at the scene, and the injured were rushed to a hospital for outpatient care.

The deceased were sent to Tiruchi Government Hospital for postmortem examinations before being returned to their families.

Traffic on the heavily traveled highway was halted for over an hour while the wreckage was cleared away.

Local residents have expressed concerns that insufficient lighting and a lack of warning signals for stationary vehicles have repeatedly led to accidents in this area. This incident is the latest in a series of deadly occurrences reported throughout Tamil Nadu in recent days.

In a separate incident near Paramakudi on the Madurai–Ramanathapuram highway, four individuals, including three family members and a driver, lost their lives when a rental car collided with a mini-lorry.

In Mayiladuthurai district, two individuals, a daily-wage laborer and a tribal sanitary worker, died when a government bus lost control and crashed into them before crashing into a house in Sirkazhi.

In Erode district, two motorcyclists were killed in a head-on collision near Puliampatty, while in Tirupattur, a heartbreaking incident occurred when a toddler was accidentally run over by his father's tractor.

Despite some reports indicating a slight decline in road accidents in areas like Madurai due to stricter enforcement, the state continues to face recurring fatalities, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced safety measures on roads, in workplaces, and in residential neighborhoods.