Pathanamthitta: A pastor and his two daughters were killed as their car fell into a stream at Vennikulam, near Thiruvalla, in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district on Monday morning.
The deceased are Chandy Mathew, and his daughters Feba and Blessy. They were the only occupants in the car.
Chandy Mathew, a pastor of the Church Of God denomination, was staying at Kumbanad as part of his ecclesiastical duties.
He was a native of Chakkupallom in Idukki district.
The accident happened at 7 am as the car went out of control while ovetaking a bus on the Eraviperoor-Vennikulam road and plunged into the swollen stream.
The identity of the riders were ascertained from the college identity cards of the girls.
Blessy and Feba were students of the Mar Gregorios College at Parumala.
All the three had died by the time rescuers arrived. The car lay submerged for 20 minutes after it fell into the stream. The efforts to retrieve the bodies were diffcult in view of the strong currents following heavy rains in the last few days.
Meanwhile, one person died and another got injured after being swept away in a flash flood at Kumbhavurutty Falls, near Aryankavu panchayath, in neighbouring Kollam district on Sunday evening.
Kerala is likely to witness 'heavy to very heavy rains' for four days from today until Thursday, the India Meteorological Department predicted.
IMD has issued an orange alert, indicating heavy or very heavy rains, in Idukki, Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Ernakulam today.
