20 SABARIMALA-BOUND PILGRIMAS INJURED NEAR KANAMALA

20 SABARIMALA-BOUND PILGRIMAS INJURED NEAR KANAMALA

20 persons were injured, when the van carrying Sabarimala pilgrims from Thiruchirapalli fell into the gorge near Alapad Junction near Kanamala across the border with Pathanamthitta on Sunday morning. Seven of the victims in the accident at Alappad junction near Kanamala near Erumeli across the border wth Pathanamthitta have been brought to Kottayam Government Medical College Hospital the condition of one of the pateients was serious, hospital authorities said. According to police, the rest of the victims have been admitted to Assissiz hospital Mukkottuthara and Thalukk Hospital Kanjirappally. The victims, all of them from Thiruchirappalli were going to Sabarimala, police said.

Atleast 20 pilgrims have been injured, four of them seriously, when a speeding van carrying them plunged into a depth of nearly 12 feet, a dry stream, on the wayside at Alappattu Junction near Kanamala on the Erumely-Pampa road leading to Sabarimala on Sunday forenoon. The Circle Inspector of Police at Pampa Police Station, B.Sudhakaran Pillai, who had rushed to the accident spot told The Hindu that the van was carrying Sabarimala-bound pilgrims from Chinnamelavuparai in Trichy in Tamil Nadu. The local people who rushed to the spot rescued the mishap victims who were trapped inside the van that was found lying upside down in the dry stream, Mr Pillai said. All of the injured have been rushed to the Assisi Hospital at Mukkoottuthara, Taluk Hospital at Kanjirapally and to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital, later. Reports received here say that seven pilgrims have been admitted to the Assisi Hospital at Mukkoottuthara and they are: Ramesh, 26; Kalidas, 17; Saravanan, 18; Matiyazjakan, 51; Praveenbabu, 18; R.Manju, 11 and Vishu, 33 and all of them were out of danger, hospital sources said.

Manikantan, 26; Ramesh, 36; Ravi, 47 and Manimaran, 43 have been admitted to Kottayam Medical College with serious injuries, police said. Mr Saji, a villager who took part in the rescue mission told The Hindu that the accident occurred when the van was rushing down a steep hill track. The van rammed into an autorikshaw parked on the wayside, striking it down into a depth of nearly 14 feet. The Autorikshaw was totally destroyed. A woman and child who were about to get into the autorikshaw had a miraculous escape as they rushed back from the road seeing the van advancing towards them, Mr Saji said. He said a middle-aged pilgrim was found trapped his neck between the mangled iron bars of the seats and he was taken out after a laborious effort. The police rescue team led by Mr Pillai from Nilackal base camp too rushed to the spot and both the van and the autorikshaw were lifted using a recovery van, later. 

                                                           Prof. John Kurakar