Eight persons, including two children, died on the spot when the car in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary lorry at a location along the Chennai Bypass Road in Samayapuram limits during the early hours of Sunday.
Police sources said five survivors, including three children, were admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi in a serious condition.
The car was proceeding towards Tiruchi from Chennai when it hit the lorry parked on the roadside from behind.
The identities of the deceased and survivors were yet to be established. Samayapuram police are investigating.