13 killed, 44 hurt in 2 road mishaps

Chennai, Dec 27 (UNI) Thirteen people, including seven women, were killed and 44 injured in two separate road accidents in Thanjavur and Namakkal districts of Tamil Nadu today.

Police sources said eight passengers, including three women, were killed and 24 injured, some of them seriously, when a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus plunged into a river from a road overbridge at Anaikkadu on the Pattukottai-Muthupettai Road near Thanjavur.

In the other mishap, five people, including four women, were crushed to death and 20 injured in a collision between a van and a mini-lorry at Tiruchengode in Namakkal District.

Thanjavur District Collector C Vijayaraj Kumar told UNI that passengers of the bus, which was on its way to Thondi in Ramanathapuram District from Nagapattinam, were asleep when the driver lost control and the vehicle hit the parapet wall of the bridge and plunged into the river.

All the injured were rushed to the government hospital at Pattukkottai and the Government Medical College hospital at Thanjavur where the condition of three people were stated to be critical, Reports from Namakkal said about 25 people were on a pilgrimage to Melmaruvathur from the textile town of Tiruppur when the accident occurred at Elimedu Village in Tiruchengode around 0330 hrs.

Five people died on the spot. Of the 20 injured, eight were admitted to Tiruchengode Government Hospital while the remaining were taken to the Erode Government Hospital.

The mini van carrying soap powder was on its way to Erode from Athur.

Namakkal District Collector Deepak Tamor has rushed to the spot.

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