A road accident near Chala here in the early hours of Tuesday claimed the lives of three people from Thenkasi in Tamil Nadu.
The police identified the deceased as Ramar, 35, Chellaidurai, 45, and Kuthalingam, 70. The police said the accident occurred when the van they were travelling hit the back of a running truck loaded with manufactured sand at 6 a.m. Both the van and the truck were moving towards Kannur. All the three travelling in the van died on the spot, the police said.
As the front part of the van was badly damaged, the bodies of Ramar, who drove the van, and Chellaidurai, sitting in the front seat, were extricated by Fire and Rescue Services personnel from Thalassery. The bodies were taken to the District Hospital here for post-mortem.
The police first identified Ramar from his driving licence. All the three were doing scrap business and they were on their way to Kannur from Thenkasi to collect bundles of scraps from scrap dealers here. The police said their contacts living here helped the police identify the deceased and inform their relatives in Thenkasi.
Though the cause of the accident was yet to be identified, the police said the accident in the early hours could have occurred when the driver of the van dozed off while driving. The truck was on its way to Puthiyatheru here from Malappuram, the police said.
