Kasaragod: Several people were injured in a series of road accidents in Kasaragod district over the last couple of days. . Two cars lost control and overturned on KSTP Road at Bhaskara Nagar, Mulleria in Kumbla leaving seven injured. The first accident happened at 10 pm on Thursday when a car in which four persons were returning from Mangaluru airport to their hometown Kalathoor overturned. All the passengers escaped with minor injuries. The second accident also took place close to this spot around 12.30 am on Friday. The injured persons – Chitra (32), Baby (40), Sivarama (22), Bhavya (19), Divya (19), Adarsh (four) and Aswith (two) – were admitted to hospitals in Mangaluru and Kumbla. Residents near the accident spot and members of the Navodaya Club carried out the rescue activities.

Car rams into shop
In yet another accident in Kanhangad, a shopkeeper had a lucky escape when a car that had lost control rammed into his shop. The owner of the shop, K E Abdul Latheef of Balla beach, was present in the textile shop when the car smashed the glass and crashed into the counter. However, Latheef escaped unhurt as he was standing away from the counter. Merchant association president C K Asif later visited the spot.

Auto falls in ditch
Meanwhile, in Peria, an auto-rickshaw with passengers veered off the service road of the national highway and plunged into a ditch dug up as part of the highway development work. The passengers and the auto driver miraculously escaped without injuries. Auto drivers in the town alleged that lack of protective walls near the ditch had led to the accident.

Traffic in the area was disrupted for several hours following the incident. The auto was finally pulled out of the ditch by auto drivers and residents of the area. Drivers said that a single vehicle can hardly pass along the narrow service road, as highway construction is underway. It is difficult even to walk along this stretch due to the congestion of vehicles, and lack of warning signs makes travelling at night still more dangerous, they added.

Fire at Mulleria sub-station
A fire was reported at the 110 kV sub-station of the KSEB in Mulleria around 3.30 am on Friday. In the incident, a potential transformer - a device which measures the power coming to the sub-station and protects electric lines - caught fire and was destroyed. After KSEB employees failed to control the blaze, personnel from the Fire and Rescue Services in Kasaragod arrived at the spot and doused the fire.

Power supply to the 33 kV substations at Perla and Badiyadka and town feeders in Bellur, Panchikkal, Addur, Erinjippuzha, Bovikanam and Mulleria town were disrupted following the incident. Supply was restored after two hours. The issue was solved as two 110 kV lines connect Vidyanagar with the Mulleria sub-station and supply was made through the second line. KSEB officials said that an inspection will be carried out to ascertain the cause of the fire.