Chotti (Idukki): A 21-year-old youth who survived a landslide that struck here last October has died in a road accident.
The life of Ananthu, son of Biju, was snuffed out by a lorry which knocked him down on the national highway near Ninmalaram Junction in Idukki district on Monday.
Three months ago Biju’s house was completely damaged in the landslide that struck Ilamkotta area in October. His family members, including Ananthu, had a miraculous escape. But fate had something very cruel in store for the young man.
The accident took place at 8 am when Annanthu was on way to his place of work at Pala. The lorry which was carrying gas cylinders to Mundakayam hit Annanthu’s bike.
His cremation is scheduled on Tuesday.
Ananthu leaves behind father Biju, mother Radha and sister Athira. Biju taps rubber trees at a plantation in Karnataka. His wife Radha is a manual labourer who gets work as part of the Employment Guarantee Scheme. The family was struggling to bring their lives back on rails after the devastation caused by the natural calamity in October when another tragedy struck.
The family which lost its house in the natural calamity was living in a relief camp.
Ananthu, who has done a course in Ayurveda nursing, was employed in Goa. However, following the spread of COVID-19 he lost the job. On his return to Kerala, he started to work as a construction worker. The fatal accident took place at a time when Ananthu was all set to join a new job at Kanjirappally on February 1.
Meanwhile, Mundakayam Station House Officer C E Shine Kumar said that the Motor Vehicles Department has been ordered to cancel the licence of the lorry driver, who is a resident of Thodupuzha.
