A pregnant woman and her husband were among the three people killed while two others, including the couple's two-year-old girl, sustained serious injuries in a tragic road accident near Aravakurichi in Tamil Nadu's Karur district early on Tuesday, police said. The deceased were identified as V. Aravind, 30, his wife A. Janani, 28, who was eight months pregnant, and the car driver, P. Veera, 40. Aravind and Janani were residents of Karuthi Veeranpatti near Usilampatti in Madurai district, while Veera hailed from Nethaji Nagar in Usilampatti.
The injured were the couple’s two-year-old daughter, A. Vaveera, and P. Pandithurai, 32, of Kalaivanar Street in Aravakurichi. Both were rushed to a hospital and are undergoing treatment. According to police, Aravind, Janani and their daughter were returning to their native place in Madurai district from Bengaluru after a visit in a car driven by Veera on the Karur–Dindigul National Highway.
The accident occurred around 6 a.m. near the Esanatham Cross Cut Road junction. Preliminary investigations revealed that a motorcycle ridden by Pandithurai was moving ahead of the car when he allegedly attempted a sudden right turn across the highway.
In an effort to avoid colliding with the two-wheeler, the car driver reportedly swerved sharply to the left. However, he lost control of the vehicle, which crashed at high speed into a stationary van parked on the roadside. The impact of the collision was severe, leaving the front portion of the car completely mangled.
Aravind, Janani and Veera suffered fatal injuries and died on the spot. The couple’s young daughter and the motorcyclist sustained grievous injuries. Upon receiving information, a team from the Aravakurichi police station rushed to the accident site and launched rescue operations.
The injured were pulled out of the wreckage and transported to a government hospital for emergency treatment. Police later recovered the bodies of the deceased and sent them for a postmortem examination. The accident caused brief traffic disruptions on the busy national highway before normal movement was restored. A case has been registered, and further investigations are underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the fatal crash.