Six people were killed and eight others critically injured on Sunday in a road accident on the Chennai-Bengaluru highway in Vellore district. Two women are reported to have been among the injured in the vehicle pile-up, involving three vehicles.

The tragedy occurred at Nandiyalam in Vellore district. All the injured were taken to the Vellore Government Hospital and Christian Medical Hospital.

According to eye-witnesses, around 3.30pm, a Tata Indica and a Mahindra Scorpio collided with a Mercedes Benz coming from the opposite side, instantly killing four people on the spot. Two others died later in the hospital.

The Benz car which was going from Bengaluru to Chennai had moved on to the wrong side of the road in order to avoid hitting a two-wheeler which had abruptly stopped just ahead of it, said a Thanthi TV report. An eye-witness, D Ashok Kumar, a native of Rathinagiri, also corroborated this to Times of India. The speeding car, however, hit the two-wheeler and swerved into the opposite lane and collided with the Scorpio heading towards Bengaluru, and the Indica which was behind the Scorpio rammed into it and fell into a pit.

According to the Times of India, the deceased were identified as Lakshmiprabha, Bhagyalakshmi and Govindaraj of Bengaluru who were travelling in the Scorpio, Charlie Ratinaraj and his brother Gnanaraj of Kancheepuram who were travelling in the Indica, and Ravichandran, a two-wheeler rider and resident of Nandiyalam.