Eleven Dead in Two Nights on Thrissur's NH-66 as Forensic Evidence Points to Alcohol and Illegal Parking
Two consecutive nights of fatal road crashes on National Highway 66 in Thrissur claimed eleven lives and plunged Kerala into a fierce debate about highway safety. Eight young engineering students from Tamil Nadu died when their rented SUV slammed into an illegally parked lorry with no warning markings, and a family of three was wiped out the following night when a speeding car struck their motorcycle at a roadside stop. Forensic investigators subsequently found evidence of alcohol consumption in the first crash, and police arrested the truck driver for illegal parking.
Eight Tamil Nadu Engineering Students Killed When SUV Hits Parked Lorry Near Kaipamangalam
Eight students of PSNA College of Engineering and Technology in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, were killed around 11.45 pm on a Friday night when their high-speed rented SUV struck a Maharashtra-registered goods lorry parked without adequate warning near Panambikkunnu Centre at Kaipamangalam in Thrissur. The friends, all aged twenty, had hired an eight-seater sports utility vehicle from a tour operator in Dindigul for a "secret trip" to Kochi to celebrate their classmate Santhosh recently purchasing a new car. As the registration of Santhosh's own vehicle was not yet complete, the group opted for the rented SUV. The deceased were identified as Surya, Yuvasanjith, Joshua, Murali and Jeeva, all from Dindigul, alongside Santhosh and Prasanna from Madurai and Vishva from Salem. Seven died instantly at the scene and the lone survivor succumbed to injuries at hospital. A video recorded inside the vehicle hours before the crash showed the eight young men in high spirits, posing and celebrating their weekend trip. Using student identity cards recovered from the wreckage, Kaipamangalam police contacted the families, some of whom had been entirely unaware their sons had left for Kerala. [5]
Second Night of Tragedy: Family of Three Killed, Forensic Tests Find Alcohol Link in First Crash
The night following the engineering student tragedy, a second fatal crash struck Thrissur when a speeding car rammed into a motorcycle at Kurukkanpara Centre on the Guruvayur-Kunnamkulam road, killing an entire family of three. The victims were Muneer, 35, his wife Shifna, 24, and their three-year-old son Emil Aibak, residents of Edakkazhiyur in Chavakkad, who were returning home after attending a wedding. The family had stopped their motorcycle by the roadside to answer a phone call when the car lost control and struck them, throwing all three occupants nearly fifty metres. Muneer and Shifna were declared dead before reaching hospital; Emil, who suffered severe injuries, died shortly after. The driver of the car fled the scene and police launched a search. Two other occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody for questioning. Eyewitnesses alleged the driver appeared to be intoxicated. The two crashes, occurring on successive nights on the same stretch of under-construction national highway, brought eleven total deaths and triggered urgent questions about the adequacy of road safety measures. Separately, forensic examination of the engineering student crash indicated the students in the SUV had consumed alcohol, while police arrested lorry driver Tukaram Kamble from Pune on charges of illegally parking the lorry without adequate warning lights or reflective markers. [7]
Sources: [5] The New Indian Express · [7] Gulf News