Driver dies; six injured after tourist bus hits van in Ranipet

A 21-year-old van driver was killed and six women devotees were injured after a tourist bus and van collided at Perumbulipakkam village near Walajah town in Ranipet on the Chennai – Bengaluru Highway (NH 48).

The deceased van driver was identified as S. Deepak Babu, a native of Poonamallee near Chennai. Initial inquiry revealed that a group of devotees, mostly women, near Chittoor in A.P were returning home after visiting Amman temple in Melmaruvathur village near Chengalpattu on the elevated bridge of the stretch.

In the opposite direction, Babu, the van driver, lost control of his vehicle after it was hit by a sedan car from behind on the stretch. From the impact, he jumped onto the wrong lane and hit the tourist bus on the carriageway.

Police said that the driver died on the spot and six devotees in the bus were injured. Based on an alert, Avalur police inspected the spot. The mangled tourist bus and the van were removed from the carriageway to restore traffic on the stretch. A case was registered. Car driver Anbu Mahesh, 37, a native of Chennai, was arrested for rash driving. A probe is under way.