The 45-year-old driver of a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus was booked for negligence that led to the death of four members of a family, including two women, at Lakkapuram Puduvalasu on Muthur Road in Erode, on Thursday morning.
The victims, identified as Balasubramani (55) of Kulur village in Modakurichi, his mother Pavathal (80), his sister Maragadham (58) and her husband Mohanampuri (60), were returning to their native in two two-wheelers from Solar Amman Nagar after attending a condolence.
At 8.15 a.m. while nearing Puduvalasu, the bus (route no. 42), driven by Merick Prabhu, was on its way from Sivagiri to Erode, and hit the two-wheelers coming in the opposite direction and dragged them for a few metres and then hit a compound wall and stopped.
In the impact, all the four were crushed under the wheels of the bus and died on the spot. Two passengers and the driver also sustained injuries. Two cranes were deployed and the bus was dragged away and the bodies recovered, and taken to the District Headquarters Hospital.
Superintendent of Police P. Thangadurai, who inspected the spot, told The Hindu that initially a mechanical defect in the bus was suspected to be the reason for the mishap. But, inquiries revealed that the driver’s negligence had caused the accident. The visibility in the road was good and the road was little elevated at the spot and the bus was running at a normal speed.
“The victims were moving at the extreme left side of the road and the bus hit them and dragged them and stopped after hitting the wall”, he said and added that the Modakurichi police registered a case under Sections 304 (A) (causing death by negligence) and 279 (rash driving) of the Indian Penal Code against the driver, who is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
After bus services resumed on September 1, the driver was on his first day of duty and his first trip from Sivagiri to Erode.