COIMBATORE: A BSNL retail manager and a private automobile firm employee died in an accident on the Coimbatore-Mettupalayam Road in the early hours of Tuesday.
The deceased have been identified as V Chandrasekar, 53, of Jadayampalayam Pudur near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district and Ashwin Shaji, 23, of Gudalur in the Nilgiris district.
Karamadai police said Chandrasekar was working as a retail manager of BSNL in Mettupalayam and Ashwin Shaji was working in a private automobile manufacturing unit near Periyanaickenpalayam in Coimbatore district and residing in Mettupalayam.
After completing duty, Shaji was returning home on a motorcycle. When he reached Kuttaiyur, the two-wheeler’s fuel tank became empty.
He started pulling the motorcycle along the roadside. A speeding multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), driven by Chandrasekar, hit him and his motorcycle from behind. The motorcycle in turn hit a scooter.
Ashwin Shaji, who suffered severe head injuries, died on the spot. Scooter rider D Prasanth, 27, a private automobile firm employee from Rajapuram in Mettupalayam, sustained injuries.
The MPV jumped over the median and hit a tree on the right side. It came to a halt after hitting stones laid for installation of fencing. The branches of the tree pierced the side windows of the MPV and caused severe head injuries to Chandrasekar. Chandrasekar died on the spot. The accident happened around 12.45 am on Tuesday.
Karamadai police sent the dead bodies to the Mettupalayam Government Hospital for postmortem. Prasanth was admitted to hospital.