The deceased were identified as Padmavathy (58), a native of Mannargudi settled in Singapore, her son Manikandan (30) and son-in-law Vel Murugan (32) from Thimiri in Thanjavur district. Vel Murugan was working in a travel agency in Chennai. Vel Murugan’s daughter, Trisha, who suffered head injuries was admitted to the Melmaruvathur Government Hospital.

The police said that Padmavathy and Manikandan came from Singapore to attend a wedding in Thanjavur. They reached Chennai airport on Friday night. Vel Murugan and Trisha received them at the airport and they started to Thanjavur around 11 pm in a car.

 

When the car was on the GST Road near Melmaruvathur around midnight, Vel Murugan, who was at the wheel, reportedly lost control of the vehicle and rammed the median. The car climbed on to the other side of the road and collided with a private bus coming in the opposite direction. In the impact, three of them were killed while Trisha was rushed to the Melmaruvathur GH with grievous injuries. The bodies were sent to the Chengalpattu GH for autopsy. Five persons on the bus, who suffered minor injuries, were treated at the Madurantakam GH. Due to the accident, the traffic on GST Road was affected for nearly two hours.