A 60-year-old tailor and his two grandchildren were killed in a road accident after the two-wheeler they were travelling was hit by a van at Kaveripakkam village near Walajah town in Ranipet on Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH 48) on Friday.

The deceased were identified as M. Velu, 60, T. Gunasri, 9, and T. Aswin, 8. They were residents of Ocheri village in Ranipet.

Initial inquiry revealed that Velu was running a tailoring shop in the village for many years. His children V. Thandapani and V. Nirmala were married and settled in the village. As a routine, Velu used to take his grandchildren to school in Kaveripakkam every day.

On Friday, Velu and three of his grandchildren were travelling in a two-wheeler on the stretch when van driver R. Jaya Suriya, 28, a native of Polur town in Tiruvannamalai, suddenly lost control of the vehicle and hit the two-wheeler from behind.

The police said, in the impact, Velu and his grandchildren were thrown off from the two-wheeler. Immediately, other motorists and residents alerted Kaveripakkam police and called for an ambulance.

Police said the victims were admitted at Government Taluk Hospital in Walajah town where doctors said that Velu, Gunasri, and Aswin were brought dead. The third child T. Ajay, 7, is being treated at the hospital.

A case was registered and the van driver Jaya Suriya was arrested. A probe is under way.