Perumbavoor: The death toll in the car-lorry collision at Thrikkalathoor, near Perumbavoor town in Kerala's Ernakulam district, on Monday has risen to four as a grievously injured youth succumbed on Tuesday.
The latest to die is Amarnath R Pillai (20), the brother of Adithyan (24) who had died in the accident in the wee hours of Monday on MC Road. Their cousin Vishnu (26) and Arun (23) too had died in the horrific accident that happened as they were returning after purchasing two used cars from Bengaluru.
The deceased are from families based in Purapopuzha in Thodupuzha in Idukki district. All the four dead were in the car.
The accident happened early on Monday morning at a curve, near Kavumpadi, notorious for deadly mishaps. It is estimated 26 lives have been lost so far in road accidents in and around Thrikkalathoor. The most accident prone areas are between Mannoor and Vazhapilly.
The deaths of four youths have come as a rude shock to the entire Purappuzha village.
The trip to Bangalore was first arranged as a mere business trip by Suresh Babu, a second-hand vehicle dealer who is the maternal uncle of the dead youth. He had made online purchases of two cars in Bengaluru. But later, apart from his family members, his four nephews and a native of Purappuzha joined him for the trip.
Suresh was driving one of the cars while the nephews were travelling in another car when the incident occured.
After their pleasant stay in Bengaluru, they were supposed to travel back to Thodupuzha on Monday. But they advanced their return journey on Sunday itself since Arun wanted to attend some function back home on Monday.
After midnight, they reached Perumbavoor town. They filled petrol in their vehicles and had a cup of tea before embarking on the rest of the journey. Hardly an hour was left for reaching their homes. But for these youngsters, it seemed to be an eternal journey as destiny had it the other way. The car in which they were travelling was hit by a speeding truck.
Suresh doesn't want to reminisce about that fateful moment. "Many times, I asked them over the phone whether they were sleepy or if they wanted to take tea. I drove my vehicle by monitoring whether their vehicle was following ours. Somewhere after Thrikkalathoor, I couldn't see their vehicle following us. Sensing something amiss, I turned back to Perumbavoor side, just to get the shock of my life. All the four were lying in a pool of blood at the accident spot. Adityan and Vishnu died on the spot. Arun breathed his last at a hospital in Kolenchery and Amarnath was shifted to a Kolencherry hospital," said Suresh as he quivered.
