Idukki (Kerala): Eight Sabarimala pilgrims died when their vehicle overturned and crashed into penstock pipe at Koka on Kumily-Kambam Road in Idukki district of Kerala. Two persons were injured critically. The death toll is likely to rise further. The accident took place at around 9.30 pm on Friday night. The vehicle was carrying pilgrims from Tamil Nadu who were on their return journey. The pilgrims were the residents of Theni Andipatti in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu.
While speeding on the Kumily-Kambam Road, it overturned at a hair-pin bend, hit a tree and then crashed into the penstock pipe. The vehicle became mangled mass of metal under the impact of the crash.
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According to police, the six deceased have been identified as Nagaraj (46), Devdas (55), Sivakumar (45), Muniyandi (55) of Chakamppetty, Kanni Swamy (60) of Maravapetty and Vinod Kumar (43) of Shanmukha Sundarapuram. Details of the other two were not known. The police further said that seven people died on the spot while one died while undergoing treatment at a hospital.
At the time of mishap, altogether ten people were travelling in the ill-fated vehicle, including a child named Hariharan. The two injured have been admitted to a hospital in Kumily. It was believed that bodies of three of the eight deceased were still trapped in the vehicle. Efforts are being made to extricate the bodies by cutting open the badly mangled mass of the vehicle.
Police personnel and fire tenders have been carrying out the retrieval operation. Idukki District Collector was overseeing the retrieval operation.
