Nine pilgrims injured as van overturns

Tiruchy: Ten persons, nine of them Ayyappa devotees, were injured when the van in which they were travelling overturned in the middle of the road after it hit a two-wheeler at Nochimedu village on the Tiruchy-Dindiguil national highway, near Manaparai, in the early hours of Sunday. The police said a group of Ayyappa devotees hailing from Baluchetti Sathiram, near Kancheepuram, were on way home after completing their pilgrimage to Sabarimala when the accident took place.

When the van neared the Nochimedu four-road junction, Santhakumar of Sundakkampatti village crossed the road all of a sudden. While trying to avoid hittting the biker, the van driver lost control of the vehicle.But he hit the two-wheeler and the van overturned on the road. In the impact, Santhakumar and nine Ayyappa devotees were injured and all of them were admitted to a private hospital at Manaparai. Police investigations are on.