11 killed as train hits van in TN

Kancheepuram, Apr 16 (UNI) Eleven people, including nine Village Administrative Officers (VAOs), were killed and 11 others injured when the van carrying them was hit by a passenger train at an unmanned level crossing between Kancheepuram and Thirumalpur stations near here this morning.

Police and Railway sources said apart from nine VAOs from Vellore district, other deceased were identified as Ravi, son of Vallam VAO Ramamurthy, who escaped with injuries, and van driver Kumar.

The VAOs were on their way to Chennai to participate in a rally led by Vellore MLA C Gnanasekaran to thank the Chief Minister for solving the problems of the VAOs.

As the vehicle neared Govindavadi Agaram, the VAOs collectively decided to go to a nearby temple. When the driver tried to cross the level crossing to go to the temple, the speeding train hit the van and dragged the vehicle to a distance of 250 metres.

While nine of them died on the spot, two others died on way to Kancheepuram Government Hospital (GH).

The injured were initially admitted to Kancheepuram Government Hospital from where they were shifted to Vellore and Chennai GH.

Officials blamed the driver's negligence for the accident as he tried to go past the stretch.

The deceased were identified as VAOs Shanmugabarani (Jenganallur), Duraiswamy (Kanikiliyam), Selvapandi (Chinna Vaniyambadi), Mohan (Vinneumpalli), Nandakumar (Perumugai), Kumarasamy (Ilavambadi), Thandavarayan (Sembedu), Venkatesan (Selloor) and Damodharan (Anaicut). The other two deceased were Ravi (14), son of Ramamurthy, and the driver of the ill-fated Van Kumar.

This is the second such incident on the stretch in the last six months after 17 people were killed when an auto was hit by an EMU train at Pudupakkam village at an unmanned level-crossing.

Senior Railway Police and Revenue officials, including Kancheepuram District Collector Pradeep Yadav, his Vellore counterpart Dharmendra Pratap Yadav, Railway IG Reddy, Local Minister T M Anbarasan and MLAs visited the spot and oversaw the relief operations.

UNI