Speeding truck kills nine in Tamil Nadu

Mannargudi (Tamil Nadu), Jan 17 (IANS) Nine people, including three children, were mowed down by a speeding truck near here Saturday, a police officer said.

'The deceased were sleeping in the early hours when the truck's driver K. Jeyapaul rammed into a row of huts built on the main road's edge. Six of those dead belonged to a single family,' deputy superintendent of police K. Manickavachagam told IANS.

He said of the nine people, three were children and three were women.

Driver Jeyapaul, 24, and cleaner Mahesh Kumar, 19, who suffered minor injuries, surrendered and have been sent to judicial custody.

Mannargudi is about 300 km south of state capital Chennai.