Six persons, including three of a family, were killed after a sedan they were travelling in plunged into a canal near Pollachi, on Wednesday. Two children who were in the car were not traced till evening. The police said that all the passengers in the car were related and belonged to Masakalipalayam in Coimbatore. The deceased have been identified as R. Prakash, 45, a cable operator, his wife P. Chitra, 40, their daughter Pooja, 8, Prakash’s sister Sumathi, Prakash’s sister-in-law P. Latha, 42, and her daughter Dharani, 9.

Prakash’s younger daughter Nandana, 3, and Latha's son Kaviyarasu, 9, went missing in the canal which had 15 feet of water.

The accident took place on the bridge across the canal of the Parambikkulam Aliyar Project (PAP) at Gedimedu near Pollachi at 1.30 a.m. when the eight persons were retuning home after visiting a temple in at Palani. They were travelling from Udumalpet to Coimbatore, via Pollachi. The police suspect that Prakash who was at the wheel lost control of the vehicle which broke the railings of the bridge and plunged into the canal. The car belonged to his brother Panneerselvam. The vehicle was completely submerged in the canal, killing six persons on the spot.

The car was pulled out by the Fire and Rescue Services personnel and the police around 6.30 a.m. Six persons, other than Nandana and Kaviyarasu, were found dead in the car.

The Gomangalam police shifted the bodies of the deceased to Government Hospital, Pollachi. Searches were on till Wednesday evening to trace the two children. The police have started investigation into the cause of the accident.

In December 2017, four persons from Angamaly in Ernakulam were killed after a car with five persons plunged into the PAP canal at the same location.