India-origin Singaporean couple die in Andhra vehicle crash

Chennai: A Indian-origin couple, who had flown from Singapore to Chennai on March 8 for a holiday, died on the spot after a speeding tanker rammed their car while travelling to Tirupati.

Yuvarajan Selvam and his wife Nagajoethi Varasarasun, both in their 40s, were killed, along with the man who was driving them from Chennai to Tirupati last week, The Straits Times reported.

The accident led to a heavy traffic jam that was only cleared after two hours.

Yuvarajan, a construction manager, and Nagajoethi, a teacher, had hired a cab to take them from Chennai, where they were staying, to a temple in Tirupati on Sunday morning.

As they were about halfway through the 130 km drive, a speeding oil tanker rammed into the car and dragged it off the road into a field in Nagari, Andhra Pradesh.

While the cab driver died on the spot along with the couple, the driver of the tanker initially fled the scene, but was arrested later by the police.

A police inspector from Nagari said that the bodies had to be extricated from the cab, and were later taken to a hospital in Nagari for autopsy.

Authorities in Singapore informed the couple's family members who flew over to India on Sunday night to make arrangements for repatriation of the deceased.

They are survived by their nine-year-old son, who has been informed about the incident. Earlier in January, a four-month old Indian-origin child and her 41-year-old mother died in an accident in Japan, after their car collided with a truck.