Young athlete killed in road accident in Chennai

19-year-old athlete killed by hit-and-run school bus driver at freshers' party, police searching for driver.

A 19-year-old athlete, who was going to a freshers’ party organised by his friends in Manapakkam, was killed after being knocked down by a private school bus on Mount Poonamallee Road on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

The St. Thomas Mount Traffic Investigation wing police have filed a case and are on the lookout for the absconding driver of the school bus. 

Traffic police said P. Nidhipadhi Pandian was a State-level athlete residing in Bhajanai Koil street in Nandambakkam. He was in his first year at a private college in Nungambakkam. His friends had arranged a freshers’ party to which Pandian was proceeding on his two-wheeler on Mount Poonamallee Road, when a private school bus hit him from behind. When he fell down, the driver, without stopping, ran the bus over him, killing him on the spot.

The driver then fearing for his life, abandoned the bus and ran away from the spot. 

The police sent the body to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for a postmortem and are searching for the driver with the help of footage taken from CCTVs near the site of the accident.