Five members of a family were killed, and three others seriously injured, when the car in which they were travelling in rammed into a parked lorry near Pollachi, some 35 km from here, in the early hours of today.

The family was returning to Pollachi after a pilgrimage to Rameshwaram and Tiruchendur, when the mishap occurred at Oonjalampatti junction, police said.

As the car rammed into the rear side of the lorry under the impact of collision, Nataraj (70), his son Thirumurugan (42), daughter Jayalakshmi (36), son-in-law Anandhakrishnan (40) and granddaughter Srinidhi (10) died on the spot, they said.

Daughter-in-law Priya (35) and her children Charudeepa (10) and Darshan (8), who were seriously injured were admitted to the Government Hospital here, where their condition is said to be serious.

The bodies were taken to Pollachi government hospital for post-mortem.