Father and son killed as car falls into quarry pond in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 22-year-old and his father drowned after their car nosedived into a discarded quarry pond at Chittikkara near Pothencode on Tuesday.

The deceased were identified as Venu, 45, and Akhil, 22, alias Kannan of Thiruvathira House, Ayanimoodu, of Pothencode.

The mishap happened at around 6.45am, and the duo was reportedly going to a house near Islamia Public School, Plamoodu.

There was a small bylane adjacent to the quarry pond and the car suspected missed the curve due to fog. It had fallen into the water body that was around 150 feet deep.

Some of the residents alerted police and fire force who arrived here and started the rescue operation. Only a portion of the bonnet was visible on the pond, and inflatable dinghies were deployed.

Fireforce scuba divers who went beneath spotted a door smashed on impact and pulled out Akhil by 9.30am. Venu could be found only by afternoon.

The bodies were handed over to relatives after an autopsy. As per some relatives, the deceased had earlier received threats from the family of the Nedumangad-based girlfriend who was also his classmate at an engineering college. There are allegations that this was a suicide caused by constant threatening.

Venu (left) and Akhil

Venu was a junior superintendent with lottery directorate. He leaves wife Geetha and younger son Amal.

The Chittikkara quarry that was first used before a century was abandoned two decades back. Several people have drowned here since, police said.