Eight Engineering Students Killed in Kerala Crash: Car Rams Illegally Parked Lorry on NH-66
All students were from engineering college in Dindigul
Thiruvananthapuram:In a tragic incident, eight students lost their lives when the car they were traveling in crashed into a goods lorry parked on National Highway 66 at Panambikunu in Thrissur district of Kerala late Friday night.
The crash occurred around 11:40 pm when a Tamil Nadu-registered car (TN 59 DW 8299) slammed into the rear of a Maharashtra-registered goods lorry (MH 43 CE 3671) parked on the highway. The car was carrying eight students from PSNA College of Engineering and Technology in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.
The students who were on a leisure trip to Kerala , were returning from Guruvayur and heading towards Kodungallur when the mishap took place .
The truck driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the spot soon after the mishap.
The police said overspeeding by the car driver and the illegal parking of the goods lorry on the highway were the primary factors behind the accident.
According to police, two of the three lanes on the NH 66 stretch were closed, with traffic diverted through the remaining lane. The lorry was parked on one of the closed lanes. The car was traveling at high speed, and the driver couldn’t spot the lorry from a distance due to poor lighting and the lack of reflectors in the area.
RTO officials said the lorry was illegally parked on the extreme right side of the highway, blocking the diversion as well as the road markings indicating the turn. A preliminary inspection at the accident site revealed the lorry was parked in a no-parking zone. A detailed examination of the site will be carried out by a team from the MV Department.
The fire and rescue services received a distress call around 11:48 p.m. When the rescue team arrived, they found the car rammed into the rear of a lorry. By that time, local residents and passersby had already taken six of the injured to nearby hospitals. Two others, including the driver, were trapped inside the mangled vehicle. Hydraulic cutters were used to cut open the vehicle and free them.
All eight occupants of the car were declared dead at the Thrissur Medical College Hospital. The deceased were identified as Vishwa,20, a native of Salem; Surya I,20, Joshua Hilson J , 20, and Yuva Sanjith K , 20, natives of Dindigul;Santosh G , 20, and Prasanna R, 20, natives of Madurai, and Jeeva N , 20, and Murali Krishnan M, 20.
Joshua, Murali, Prasanna, and Sanjith were Civil Engineering students, while Jeeva, Vishwa, Surya, and Santosh were Mechanical Engineering students.
The district authorities said that autopsies have been completed. Six bodies were handed over to their relatives, and the families of the remaining two have also reached the hospital.
A case has been registered at Kaipamangalam police station against the lorry driver under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the BNS.
Meanwhile, District Collector Shikha Surendran directed officials to carry out an urgent joint safety inspection of the National Highways in Thrissur. A high-level team comprising officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), police, Motor Vehicles Department, and local bodies will conduct the special inspection.
The team has been asked to submit its report by Wednesday evening. The inspection will cover road maintenance, the condition and level of footpaths, potholes, waterlogging, lighting on service roads, reflective sign boards, improper storage of construction materials, illegal parking, and barricading. They will also assess the availability of traffic wardens.
The Motor Vehicles Department will conduct a separate inspection under the RTO.
