5 Kerala Youths Killed
The mangled remains of a car that hit a lorry near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore on Sunday. Five youths from Kerala were killed when the car in which they were travelling to Udhagamandalam rammed a stationary lorry at Teachers’ Colony at Karamadai near Mettupalayam in the early hours of Sunday.
According to police, Prasad (23), Prashob (22), Rahul (23), Sabareesh (22) and Gibson (20) were killed on the spot. All of them were said to be students of different institutions in Ernakulam. The lorry was parked well away from the road. The car was said to have veered off the road and crashed into the left side of the lorry. The car was crushed and it was tough to remove it from under the lorry and extricate the bodies.
While the public joined the police in carrying out this task, Mettupalayam Kerala Samajam members helped out by contacting the relatives of the deceased in Kerala and arranging for the transportation of the bodies. Prasad and Prashob were from Kakkanad, Rahul from Edapally in Ernakulam, Sabareesh from Kottarakara and Gibson from Karumancherry in Ernakulam. Using a contact number found on the mobile phones of one of the deceased, the Samajam members established contact with relatives and informed them of the tragedy.
Karamadai Inspector M.V. Illamurugan co-ordinated the efforts to remove the car and inform the relatives. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Periyanaickenpalayam, S.P. Rajan visited the spot. The bodies were sent to the Government Hospital at Mettupalayam for post-mortem. Inquiries with the relatives revealed that the five had said that they were leaving for Munnar from Ernakulam on a weekend trip. From Munnar, they were heading for Udhagamandalam via Coimbatore.
