Three dead in traffic accident at ECR

Three persons, including a seven-year-old boy, were killed in a road accident on East Coast Road in Keezha Shanmugapuram village near Surangudi on Sunday. Three others were injured and admitted to Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital.

Police said that R. Silambarasan, 35, of Thangachimadam in Ramanathapuram district collected old newspapers, used plastic bottles and other garbage on a tricycle. Along with him, his wife Thangammal, 32, another worker, Mariammal, 60, and Satish, 7, travelled to different towns and collected the garbage. They then sold it to wholesale shops in Thoothukudi and moved on to other towns.

While they were going about their work in Keezha Shanmugapuram village on Sunday, their tricycle was hit by a speeding car travelling from Kanniyakumari to Velankanni.

In the collision, Thangammal, Mariammal and Satish died on the spot, while Silambarasan and two passengers in the car, identified as Selvaraj, 55, and his wife Kumari Thangam, 49, sustained injuries and were hospitalized.

The three bodies were sent to Vilathikulam Government Hospital for autopsy.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the car was driven by Selvaraj’s son, police said.

Meanwhile, residents of Keezha Shanmugapuram said that speed bumps and barriers alone would be enough to prevent speeding vehicles from slowing down near residential areas as they travel at high speed on the ECR.

A majority of travellers from towns like Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari used the ECR to reach destinations like Rameswaram, Nagapattinam, Velankanni and Chennai. Hence, the route was always busy and had crossings on both sides.