Driver "sleeps," car hits tree; 6 killed in Tamil Nadu

Five people belonging to a family and a car driver were killed while two children sustained injuries after the vehicle they were travelling in hit a tree near here on Thursday, police said.

The accident occurred during the wee hours today at Pathiri village near Tindivanam, about 38 km from here and all the six bodies have been brought to the government medical college hospital here for autopsy.

The two injured children were being treated at the same facility, the official said. An eight-year-old girl also died and two other children aged four and nine were injured.

"It appears the driver slept moments before the mishap at about 5:15 am when the vehicle was on the highway in the periphery of Pathiri village," a police official at the jurisdictional police station told PTI quoting an eye-witness account.

As soon as the vehicle hit the tree, the driver lost control, he said. The family, belonging to a village in Tirunelveli district were on their way to Kancheepuram where they own a business.