DHARMAPURI: In a major traffic accident on the Thoppur ghat highway, on the border with Dharmapuri and Salem, four people were killed after a speeding truck carrying a heavy load crashed into 14 vehicles.
At around 4:00 pm, police and NHAI staff from Palayam participated in the recovery of a truck, which broke down in the middle of the ghat road in Thoppur. During their recovery operation, the police had stopped almost a dozen vehicles to avoid traffic jams and were regulating the flow of traffic.
It was around this time that another truck carrying a large load of cement from Andhra Pradesh approached the Thoppur ghat area through Dharmapuri at high speed. The truck driver lost control of the vehicle, rear-ending up to 12 cars, two mini trucks and two motorcycles before coming to a stop.
Talking to The new Indian expresssaid Thoppur Toll Plaza manager Naresh, who was in Thoppur when the accident occurred, “The accident was caused by the negligence of the truck driver. The ghat road from Dharmapuri is on a steep decline and the toll plaza is has set to install various audio-visual warning systems to alert drivers. However, the driver ignored this warning. “
“Also, it is common for drivers to put their vehicle in neutral to save fuel. This causes trucks to drive in uncontrolled free flow and eventually when they want to stop the vehicle, overheating of the brake leads to a system failure where drivers lose total control of their vehicle, “he added.
Most accidents in Thoppur are due to such negligence on the part of the driver, Naresh added.
The Dharmapuri district collector SP Karthikaa visited the accident site and supervised the relief work together with Police Superintendent C Praveshkumar.
Speaking to the media, the Collector said: “Four people were killed in the road accident in Thoppur caused by a high-speed cement truck carrying a heavy load. The truck driver escaped after the truck stopped. and police search operations are underway. “
Gatherer Karthikaa also reported that three people have suffered serious injuries and another ten have suffered minor injuries. The injured are being treated at Mohan Kumaramangalam Government Medical College and Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital respectively.
Police Superintendent C Praveshkumar reported that four people, A Madhankumar (32), Kannan (26) from Perumpalai, Nithyanandha from Coimbatore and Karthik, a driver from Omalur, were killed in this incident.
“We are currently involved in locating the relatives of the deceased and the bodies have been sent for autopsy at the DMCH,” he added.
The accident caused a serious traffic jam that interrupted movement for more than three hours.
The manager of Thoppur Toll Plaza Naresh, which is involved in the traffic clean-up efforts, said: “Nearly 8 km of late traffic was reported. We have cleared a single lane to allow for the flow of traffic and at 6pm, the Roads were temporarily opened after earthworks cleared. Roads. “
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