THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The senior officials of the Thiruvananthapuram district administration were woken up early on Friday morning by phone calls from their Tamil Nadu counterparts who told them about the tragic bus accident that killed many pilgrims from the state. The news spread like wildfire in the fishermen community in the coastal villages of Kochuthura near Poovar and Kochuthoppu near Valiyathura from where the victims had gone in the ill-fated bus to Velankanni.
Deceased Vinod of Valiyathura was an NRI and had married Ancy, a nurse in a private hospital, just a few days back. They went to Velankanni shrine as they had made an offering to visit the pilgrim spot. They were expected to arrive in the city by 10 am in the bus which met with the mishap five hours earlier. Sujin, 6, had gone for his first Velankanni visit with father Leo and mother Silvory. However, he was among the many that were killed on the spot in the accident. His mother Silvory is admitted at Kanniyakumari with serious head injuries. He leaves behind three siblings.
“The district administration rushed two medical teams in ambulances to Tamil Nadu to assist the officials there. If necessary, all injured will be taken back for treatment to the city,” Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told mediapersons. Tirunelveli Collector M. Karunakaran and DIG T.S. Anbu had overseen the transfer of victims to Kanyakumari. A team under Additional District Magistrare S.Vinod and Thiruvananthapuram Range IG Manoj Abraham was sent to take stock of the situation.
Mother and child from Kollam among Valliyoor victims:
A mother and child from Kollam are among the people from Kerala who lost their lives in the accident in which the tourist bus they were travelling in lost control and turned turtle at Valliyoor on Friday morning. Mary Nisha (33) and her one-and-a-half year old son Alroy have been identified among the dead. Mary Nisha’s husband Biju (40) and another son Aran (6) have been admitted to a hospital in Palayamkottai. The family hailing from Bindu Sadanam, Mudakkara in Kollam were going to Velankanni in the bus that met with the accident.
Biju, who is an NRI, reached his home in Kollam on December 17 and was to go back on January 17. His wife Mary Nisha was from Kanyakumari district and had many relatives in the bus who are among the injured. The bodies will be brought to Kollam on Friday night after completing procedures at a Government hospital in Palayamkottai and will be kept at the mortuary in Kollam District hospital. Cremation will be held on Sunday.
