Kochi | A 72-year-old newspaper distributor died when a piling vehicle lost control and rammed into him in the wee hours of Thursday at Chendamangalam near North Paravur here, police said.

The incident occurred around 3.30 am and the victim was on his bicycle when the accident happened, police said.

The piling vehicle swerved to avoid hitting a car coming from the opposite direction, lost control, hit the newspaper agent and then rammed into a commercial building on the roadside, it said.

The driver of the piling vehicle was injured in the accident and is hospitalised, police said