Two major accidents claim
24 lives in Tamil Nadu

At least 24 people, including nine women, were on Sunday killed and 57 injured, eight of them seriously, in two separate road accidents in Tamil Nadu, police said.

Seventeen persons, including seven women and two children were killed and 13 injured in a collision between a van and a bus in a village near Dindigul early in the morning, police said.

The deceased and the injured, hailing from Idaikattu Vayal near Ernakulam in Kerala, were returning home after a pilgrimage to Velankanni in Tiruvarur district. Three seriously injured have been admitted to a government hospital in Dindigul, near Madurai.

The deceased are: Vilamma (65), her daughter-in-law Annie (45), Annie's sons -- Jojo (18) and Johnson (26), the latter's wife mini (21), their two children Sheba (3) and Sanju (eight months).

Annie's daughter Sony, her husband Benny and their daughter Naina have been admitted to the Dindigul government hospital and their condition is said to be serious, police sources Chennai said.

The family's neighbours -- Robin (26), his wife Princey (24), George (40) and Sony (26) were also killed along with the van driver Riju (26), who hailed from Udayamperoor.

In another mishap in the afternoon at Kaveripakkam in Vellore district , seven persons lost their lives and 44 sustained injuries when a private bus collided with a truck.

The injured have been admitted to the Walajapet and Vellore hospitals, where the condition of five of them was stated to be serious.