KRISHNAGIRI/CHENNAI: Three people, including a senior bureaucrat with the Tamil Nadu government, were killed when the car in which they were travelling rammed a van near Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday evening.

The accident took place after the front tyre of the SUV burst and the car crashed into the median, mounted it and rammed into a van on the other side of the Krishnagiri-Chennai national highways, police said. The deceased were identified as Shanthini Kapoor, 55, principal secretary to Tamil Nadu government in special programme implementation, her brother-in-law Richard Shristi, 48, and her relative Selvaraj, 52, who was the sub-inspector of prohibition enforcement wing in Chennai.

Shanthini Kapoor, her sister Petricia, 45, Richard Shristi’s niece Anna Christina, 20, were heading to Bangalore from Chennai in the car on Wednesday evening when the accident occurred. When they neared Kattinayanapalli Murugan temple near Krishnagiri around 4.30pm, the front wheel of the car suddenly burst and Selvaraj, who was driving the car, lost control. The car rammed into the median and crashed into the van, headed for Chennai, on the other side of the national highway.

The SUV then rammed the side wall of the road and an electric post. In the accident, Shanthini, Richard and Selvaraj suffered grievous injuries and died instantly while Petricia and Anna Christina were taken to a hospital with injuries. In the impact, another car that was behind the van, rammed the rear side of the van and seven persons travelling in the car sustained injuries.

Passersby immediately called the 108 ambulance, which took all the nine victims to the government hospital in Krishnagiri town. Doctors, who examined them, said their condition was stable. Meanwhile, Petricia and Christina were taken to a private hospital in Bangalore, based on their request. Krishnagiri district collector T P Rajesh, SP P Kannammal and other officials arrived at the spot and initiated investigation. A case was registered by Krishnagiri town police.

The incident came as a shock for Shanthini’s friends at the secretariat. “It is shocking. She was a wonderful human being and a committed officer at work, and preferred to maintain a low profile,” said a senior bureaucrat and Shanthini’s friend. When news of the accident reached her office in the evening, personal staff in her chamber were inconsolable. A steady stream of officials from the neighbouring departments dropped in the evening to console the staff and convey condolences.

The 1983-batch officer is survived by her husband, Peter Kapoor, a businessman and daughter Sanjana, who works for a non-government organization in Bangalore. The officer had gone to see her daughter, stationed in Hosur, and had planned to go to Bangalore for an extended holiday. The plan was to stay at ISRO guest house in Bangalore on January 16 and 17. “On Monday, she attended a review meeting, her last, by chief secretary on the special initiatives of the governments, including distribution of laptops, mixies and grinders,” said an officer.

In 2012, then Krishnagiri collector (now state project director of SSA) Pooja Kulkarni met with a similar accident on the Chennai-Bangalore national highway and suffered injuries. Her duffadar G Muniraj died, while two other staff members were injured. The collector was rushed to a hospital in Bangalore for treatment.