Chennai: Truck runs amok, kills five of family sleeping at home

Chennai: In a bizarre accident, a heavy-duty truck laden with 25 tonnes of iron sheets which ran amok along Tiruvallur–Poonamallee High Road, killed five members of a family who were asleep in their homes in Pudu Chathiram near Thirumazhisai in neighbouring Tiruvallur district.

At around 3.30 am on Monday, the driver of the truck, belonging to a Kolkatta-based private logistics company, lost control of the vehicle, which veered off the road while plying by the 60 ft wide road, and razed four houses in which around 10 persons were sleeping,  The truck first uprooted an electric pole and went on to mow down three more electric poles before razing down the houses and trapping the inmates under the debris.

The accident snapped the power lines and Tiruvallur SP E.T. Samson, and Tiruvallur DSP E. Vijaykumar, rushed to the scene on information.

The cops first unloaded the 25 tonnes of cargo from the truck with the help of four heavy duty cranes and then pulled out the truck, weighing over 15 tonnes,  which had been stuck in the collapsed structures.