The collision occurred at about 8 a.m. on September 19, 2026, at Vadaputhupatti village, roughly two kilometres from Ambur town in Tirupattur district. The school bus, driven by 47‑year‑old P. Sugumar of Ambur, had just picked up six pupils from the village when it entered the highway and was hit head‑on by an oncoming container lorry traveling from Chennai to Hosur.
Four of the children aboard were injured: I. Rohit (6) and M. Aswanth (7), both in Class 2, and I. Micher (12) and I. Jannet Juliya (12), both in Class 6. All four attend St. Joseph’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Pernambut, Vellore district. Bus driver Sugumar suffered head and left‑leg injuries, while the lorry driver, 30‑year‑old K. Shyam Sundar Misra of Uttar Pradesh, sustained minor injuries.
Passersby and other motorists quickly alerted the Ambur Taluk police, and 108 ambulances rushed the victims to Government Taluk Hospital in Ambur, where their conditions were reported as stable. Police registered a case and later arrested lorry driver Misra on suspicion of negligence.
The accident disrupted traffic on NH‑48 for nearly two hours. In the aftermath, residents of Vadaputhupatti, including parents of the injured students, blocked the highway demanding the construction of a subway or bridge at the intersection to prevent similar accidents. “Petitions have been submitted repeatedly to the district administration, yet no safety measures have been implemented,” said local resident K. Valli.
Tirupattur Superintendent of Police Akshay Anil Wakhare, along with revenue and NHAI officials, met the protesters, assuring them that steps would be taken to improve safety on the stretch. The crowd dispersed peacefully after the officials’ assurances. Tirupattur Collector V. Nallasivan also visited the injured children at the hospital.