Chennai: Three college girls were killed and four others injured when a Saidapet-bound water tanker ran amok knocking down pedestrians, two bikes and an autorickshaw before coming to a halt opposite Dr MGR Medical University Main gate on Anna Salai on Thursday afternoon. The three unfortunate girls were identified as Chithra (19) of Tiruvottiyur, Christa Asha Shruthi (20) of Pulianthope, both pursuing final year B.Com in Chellammal Women’s College, and Gayathri (20) of Alappakkam, Porur who was a second year B.Com student.
According to eyewitnesses, the water tanker lorry, which had just left the Metro Water filling station in Guindy, veered to the right when coming down the Guindy railway over-bridge and hit two bikers. The tanker driver then veered to the left and ploughed into pedestrians. The lorry came to a screeching halt after it veered again to the right and knocked down an autorickshaw.
The three girls were killed on the spot while the passersby helped the injured two-wheeler riders and two other girls get back on their feet. Fearing mob justice, the lorry driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene. The Guindy Traffic Investigation wing officials rushed to the scene and even as the cops began moving the injured, road users including a techie volunteered to rush the injured to the Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH).
The injured were identified as Meena (19) of Porur and T.G. Jayashree (18) of Tirunindravur, also from Chellammal Women's College, and Omanakuttan Pillai (47) of Adambakkam and Thavaraj (66) of Mandaveli. The accident sparked a huge outcry among students who were heading towards their college and the traffic came to a grinding halt. The students and staff resorted to a road roko for about an hour, demanding that the missing lorry driver be immediately traced. They also demanded that speed breakers be laid in front of the college to slow vehicles down.
Senior police officials from the Traffic and Law & Order wing rushed to the scene and brokered peace. After the demonstration ended, the bodies were moved to GRH. The lorry driver, identified as Rajendran aka Raja (45), of Sivakasi near Virudhunagar, turned himself in to the Guindy Traffic Investigation Wing. “The lorry's brake failed and I lost the control of the vehicle", Rajendran told the cops during initial investigation.
"We would send the braking system of the lorry for analysis with the motor inspector to ascertain the veracity of the claims made by the driver," the police said. Since the protesters believed the lorry driver was intoxicated when the mishap occurred, he was checked for blood-alcohol-content (BAC) and tested negative. He was booked on charges of rash and negligent driving and remanded to judicial custody by a city court", a senior police official told DC.
