Three killed after car rams truck near Vedachandur

Madurai: Three men died and three others suffered grievous injuries after the car they were travelling in collided head on with a truck near Vedachandur in Dindigul district on Friday.
Police said six friends — Chinnappan, John Kennedy, Augustine Prabhu, Robert, Arputharaj, and Milton Jayakumar — went to St Thomas Shrine at Malayatoor in Kerala ahead of Good Friday and were returning to their native Dharampuram village near Manapparai. Chinnappan was driving the car.
When the car neared Ayyanarkoil near Vedachandur, it collided with a truck loaded with cotton bales, which was heading to a textile mill at Vedachandur. Chinnappan and Augustine Prabhu who were sitting in the front died on the spot, police said.
Locals rescued others and took them to Vedachandur GH, from where the injured men were taken to Dindigul Medical College Hospital for further treatment. Robert died at the hospital without responding to treatment.
Fire and rescue department personnel recovered the bodies of Chinnappan and Augustine from the mangled car. Police sent the bodies to Vedachandur GH for postmortem.
The accident slowed down vehicular traffic on the Vedachandur – Oddachathiram road for more than half an hour.