Seven persons, including a 7-year-old boy, were injured in a multiple collision of vehicles at Old Pettai check-post on Sunday morning.
Police said Lakshmanan (46), a Tasmac retail outlet supervisor from Maharaja Nagar, was returning home in his car along with his family members after offering special prayers at Bhagavathi Amman Temple in Chottanikkara.
One Harihara Ramachandran (58) of Viswanathapuram near Shencottai, who was taking his car to the garage, was following Mr. Lakshmanan’s car.
When they reached Old Pettai check-post, the driver of a speeding cargo auto, Karthik (21) of Krishnapuram, tried to overtake the two cars in a bid to cross the check-post first.
However, he lost control over the auto and the cargo vehicle hit both the cars, injuring Lakshmanan, his wife Selvarani (43), daughter Abhi (13), Lakshmanan’s aunt Angammal (58), her grandson Mari Anand (7), auto driver Karthik and cleaner Krishnamoorthy (33).
Though the car of Mr. Ramachandran suffered damage, he escaped unhurt. Karthik suffered a fracture on the leg as his vehicle overturned in the impact, the police said.
Tirunelveli City Traffic Investigation Wing police have registered a case.
