Four from West Bengal perish in ECR collision

CHENNAI: Five persons, including two men and two women from West Bengal and a car driver, died in an accident near Veppanchery village in Kancheepuram district, after the car they were travelling in, collided with a bus from Puducherry on Tuesday. Police said that the eight persons from West Bengal had come to Chennai for treatment and were on their way back to the city from Puducherry.The accident had taken place in the evening, when two families from West Bengal, including a five-year-old girl, were getting back after a one-day trip to Puducherry in a multi-utility vehicle, police said. They had come from Kolkata to Chennai for a medical treatment in a well-known private hospital; they had hired a car from a travels company at Greams Road, Chennai, and had gone to Puducherry for a day for sightseeing.The car neared Veppanchery village, Koovathur on the East Coast Road when their vehicle had a head on collision with a Puducherry Government bus, which was on its way to Puducherry from Chennai. Three persons, including a woman, died on the spot while another woman and a man died while they were being taken to a hospital, police said.Police said they identified one of the deceased persons as Thanu Malaiyaperumal (58) of Tirunelveli district, who was the driver of the car from the travel agency.The injured were taken to a hospital at Kalpakkam. A five-year-old girl had a miraculous escape and was unhurt, police said. “We could only identify the car driver. We are waiting for the relatives to come from West Bengal to identify and get the names of the others,” said a police official.