Eight engineering students from Tamil Nadu were killed when their car rammed into the rear of a parked goods lorry on the under-construction National Highway 66 at Kaipamangalam in Thrissur district of Keralam late Friday night, police said. The tragic accident occurred at Panambikkunnu Centre, claiming the lives of... students from PSNA College of Engineering and Technology in Dindigul. Police said five of the deceased, Surya, Yuvasanjith, Joshua, Murali and Jeeva, were from Dindigul, while Santhosh and Prasanna were from Madurai and Vishva was from Salem. Police have informed the families of the identified victims. According to the police, the incident took place at 11.42 pm on Friday, when the Tamil Nadu-registered car, which was travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur, lost control and crashed into the lorry at high speed. The Maharashtra-registered heavy vehicle was parked near a diversion on the national highway. The collision was so severe that the car was completely crushed, with its front portion wedged entirely under the lorry. The car was travelling at high speed, and the driver apparently failed to notice the diversion barricade before hitting the rear of the lorry, police said. Hearing the loud crash, residents, police and fire force personnel rushed to the spot and initiated rescue operations. The vehicle had to be cut open to extricate the passengers. Rescuers faced a daunting task, particularly in pulling out those trapped in the front seats, reflecting the sheer magnitude of the crash. All eight occupants succumbed to their injuries at the scene. Preliminary investigations suggest that the youths were on a holiday trip to Keralam. Some of the families were unaware that their children had travelled to Keralam, police said. The mortal remains will be handed over to the relatives following the post-mortem examination. Post-mortem examinations will begin after the families of the deceased reach Thrissur Medical College. Mohammad Nadeem, Thrissur Rural District Police Chief, stated that absolute negligence in parking the goods lorry led to the tragedy. Speaking to the media after visiting the accident scene, the police official made it clear that the accident was entirely the fault of the lorry driver and promised stringent legal action against those responsible. The SP confirmed that heavy vehicles are strictly prohibited from parking on the highway in this manner. Despite the restrictions, the lorry was parked with absolute negligence, directly causing the fatal crash. A criminal case has been registered against the driver, who fled the scene immediately after the accident, under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The police have successfully tracked down the owner of the lorry. "The driver fled the scene immediately after the accident. To track him down, the Thrissur Rural Police have constituted a special investigation team. The team will immediately launch search operations centred in Maharashtra to apprehend the absconding driver at the earliest. He explicitly stated that parking the lorry on the highway in this manner was not permitted, yet it was parked negligently," he added. Beyond the lorry driver, Nadeem said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the contractor would also be contacted regarding the tragic accident. Matters such as whether the Highway Authority had properly installed signboards in areas where construction work was ongoing will be inspected.show more

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