Coimbatore: Members of the public thrashed an inter-state truck driver after his truck went out of control, killing two persons and injuring many others on the Coimbatore-Tiruchy road late on Friday night.
Police said Prem Singh, a truck driver from Patna, had loaded the lorry with cotton from a private Mill near Pappampatty and took the Tiruchy highway.
The driver, driving under the influence of alcohol, first hit and damaged the front portion of a fancy shop on the roadside near Kannampalayam, but drove away without stopping, police said on Saturday.
Local shopkeepers and members of the general public who noticed the rogue lorry, gave it a hard chase.
However, within the next few meters the lorry had hit a motorcycle in which a 21-year- old pillion rider from Palladam- Sithambalam was killed and the bike driver Saravanan, 21, was badly injured.
The truck driver again did not stop the vehicle, but continued to drive in high speed, police said, while crossing Sulur-Irugur road the lorry also knocked down a tempo carrying water tanks filled with several liters of drinking water.
Under the impact of that mishap, the tempo driver Boopathi, 33, was killed on the spot and his wife, Latha, 35, and friend Murugesan, 40, from Ondipuidhur suffered serious injuries.
After hitting as many as seven motorists and members of the public on the way, the truck eventually went out of the driver's control and dashed against a roadside tree before it grind to a halt.
Prem Singh tried move the truck in the reverse direction, but local public there ran and caught him, gave the driver a good thrashing before handing him over to the police.
A compliant has been lodged and further investigations are on.
