
COIMBATORE: Three people died and 19 others suffered injuries when a light commercial vehicle carrying them toppled on the Pollachi-Valparai Ghat Road on Thursday morning.The deceased have been identified as M Rani, 45, and Sanjay Kumar, 20, of Navamalai and K Thilagaraj, 40, of Ettithurai village. Five others suffered severe injuries in the accident and were admitted to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH).The Aliyar police said that the goods vehicle was carrying people from Navamalai tribal settlement to Kattampatti. They were engaged in the Parambikulam-Aliyar-Project canal cleaning work carried out by the water resources department. There were 22 people on board the vehicle, including driver Deva Balan, 23.When the vehicle approached Chinnarpathi, the driver lost control of the vehicle after the steering got locked. The vehicle overturned on the ghat road. Rani died on the spot. Thilagaraj died while on the way to the hospital. Sanjay Kumar died without responding to treatment in CMCH.The remaining people, including the driver, were rushed to Government District Headquarters Hospital at Pollachi for treatment. The Aliyar police have registered a case.Chief minister M K Stalin condoled the deaths and announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh each for the families of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh each for the severely injured and Rs 50,000 each for those injured.