The daughter of well-known Malayalam film director Joshi was among three software professionals killed when the car they were travelling in collided with a lorry, near Mahabalipuram, Monday morning.

Joshi's daughter Aiswarya and her friends Arjun (24) of Thrissur, Radhika (24) of Kochi, Ashwin (24) and Yesudas (27), both natives of Chennai, were working for a popular IT firm in the Mahindra City at Chengalpet.

Aiswarya was driving the car with five persons in it, the police said, adding they were on their way to Chennai from Mahabalipuram, when the mishap occurred. Two of the seriously injured, who were also employees of the same company, have been admitted to a hospital in Chennai.

The police said that the car may have been travelling at more than 100kmph. "It was thrown over 400 metres away into the nearby bushes. The front portion was completely crushed. This could have happened only if the vehicle was travelling at a high speed," said a police officer.