A 54-year-old onion merchant and the driver escaped unhurt after the lorry they were travelling in caught fire, near Vandavasi town in Tiruvannamalai on Cheyyar Bypass road on Tuesday.
Police said that K. Mahaboob Basha was an onion merchant in Pulivendula town of Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh. He took a consignment of 10 tonnes of onion to deliver it to a wholesale dealer in Vandavasi in his lorry. Along with Basha, lorry driver K. Nagaraj (40) was driving the vehicle on the bypass road near Vandavasi town when the duo noticed smoke coming out of the bonnet of the vehicle.
Immediately, they stopped the vehicle and came out of it. Based on an alert from them, Cheyyar police and firefighters reached the spot. Before they could douse the fire, the vehicle and onions were completely gutted.
Police said that an electrical short circuit might be the reason for the accident. A case has been registered by Cheyyar police. A probe is under way.
Published – November 13, 2024 12:30 am IST