At least eight engineering students from Tamil Nadu were killed after the car they were travelling in crashed into a parked lorry on NH-66 in Kerala’s Thrissur district late Friday night, police said.
The accident took place around 11.40 pm at Panambikkunnu in Kaipamangalam. The students, who were travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur, were reportedly studying at an engineering college in Din Digul, Tamil Nadu.
Police said the car, registered in Tamil Nadu, collided with the rear of a Maharashtra-registered lorry parked on the highway. According to the FIR, the lorry was allegedly parked illegally on the right side of the road near a barricaded section where traffic had been diverted due to ongoing construction work.
Six of the deceased have been identified as Surya, Yuvasanjith, Vishva, Johua, Santhosh and Prasanna. Four were from Dindigul and two from Madurai, while the identities of two others are yet to be confirmed.
Police said the car was travelling at high speed and the driver may not have noticed the diversion barricade before crashing into the lorry. The lorry driver reportedly fled the scene and a case has been registered against him under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for culpable homicide.
Rescue operations were carried out by local residents, police and fire and rescue personnel. The bodies were taken to Thrissur Medical College, where postmortem examinations will be conducted after the families arrive.
Police used student identity cards recovered from the victims to contact their families. Some relatives were reportedly unaware that the students had travelled to Kerala.
