Lorry catches fire near Mangadu, driver dies

A lorry driver was charred to death after the vehicle he was driving caught fire in a collision with a trailer lorry near Mangadu during the early hours of Sunday.

According to the police, lorry driver Ramesh, 23, was a resident of Muthumariamman Koil Street, Kovur. On Saturday night, he collected construction material from a firm in Kancheepuram and was driving his tipper lorry to Red Hills along with Marimuthu, the cleaner.

When he took the flyover in North Malayambakkam near Mangadu past midnight, the truck hit a trailer lorry, carrying a crane, from the rear. In the impact, Ramesh’s lorry overturned. “The vehicle hit the trailer’s left rear side and its door got jammed. However, Marimuthu managed to jump out and tried to pull Ramesh out. His effort went in vain,” said a police officer.

In the meantime, the fuel tank exploded and the vehicle caught fire. “The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services personnel reached the spot and doused the fire.” The charred body of Ramesh was later retrieved,” the police officer said.

The Poonamallee traffic investigation wing registered a case and sent the body for post-mortem.