In the wee hours of the day a car carrying pilgrims to Sabarimalai met a head on collision with a truck. Seven died on the spot and two were critically injured.

Police said a nine-member group was on its way to Sabarimala from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh when their car was hit by the omni bus. The bus was on en route to Chennai from Coimbatore. Five of the deceased were identified as Srinivasa Rao, Nava Kesari Rao, Ramakoteeswara Rao, Raghupathy Rao and Ethar Boopathy Rao. Two others were yet to be identified. The injured were referred to a private hospital here. The bodies were sent to General Hospital here for post-mortem. District Collector Magara Booshanam and SP Muthusamy visited the spot, police added.