Six people were killed in a road accident involving two TNSTC buses and a van at Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli during the early hours of Sunday.
Twenty-one others ,injured in the accident, have been admitted to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital.
Before the incident, the driver of a TNSTC bus going to Nagercoil from Madurai, in a bid to prevent a collision with a van travelling on the Madurai-Tirunelveli four-lane highway, steered away only to crash into a nearby median.
Around 15 members of a family from Karaikudi were travelling in the van to the Tiruchendur temple. Soon after, both the drivers got into an argument. After they sorted it out, the bus driver was backing up the vehicle to leave when another State-owned bus travelling from Chennai to Nagercoil crashed into it.
Chain reaction
The bus rammed into the van due to the impact, resulting in a pile-up.
The van was overturned and the buses were severely damaged.
Four persons travelling in the buses died on the spot. M. Pradeep, 26, of Vadipatti in Madurai and P. Thavasimuthu, 47, of Kanniyakumari died on the way to the hospital.
A. Amjedkumar of Thuraiyur in Tiruchi, Baskar, 34, of Muthaloor, Murugan, Praveen Jeevaroobi also died in the incident.
As it was raining, poor visibility and inability to bring the vehicles to sudden halt may have led to the accident, the police said.