Chennai, Feb 15 (IANS): Three pilgrims, including a woman, died after being mowed down by a truck early Tuesday morning at Samayapuram in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchi.

The pilgrims, who were on a visit to Arulmigu Mariamman temple at Samayapuram, were walking from Ayyalur and Vedasandur when they were hit from behind by a truck carrying vegetables from the Oddanchatram market.

According to Manapparai police, the incident occurred at around 2 a.m. Two men, S. Tirunnavakkarasu (40) and P. Sekar (27) died on the spot. The woman, V. Kaleswari (32) died at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College hospital, Tiruchi.

Four others were grievously injured in the accident.

The truck driver was arrested.

Police sources told IANS that the pilgrims were walking in a stretch of road which was poorly lit when the truck hit them from behind. The walkers did not have any torch lights or reflective stickers on the body and the police said that the driver had confirmed that the accident occurred due to poor visibility.

Police have registered a case and commenced an inquiry. The bodies of the three are at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial medical college hospital for post-mortem and will be handed over to the relatives after the inquest process is completed.