Thrissur: Eight youths travelling in a car were killed in a tragic road accident in Kerala's Thrissur district. The accident occurred around midnight on Friday in the Panambikkunnu area of Kaipamangalam, when a Tamil Nadu-registered car crashed into the rear of a goods lorry parked along National Highway 66.
According to preliminary reports, all eight occupants were students of PSNA College of Engineering in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, who had come to Kerala on a trip. The accident occurred at around 11:42 pm near Panambikkunnu Centre on NH 66.
The deceased have been identified so far as 20-year-old Vishva from Salem, 20-year-old Surya from Dindigul, 20-year-old Santhosh from Madurai, Prasanna from Madurai, and 20-year-old Yuvsanjith from Dindigul. The identities of three other victims were yet to be established, according to preliminary reports.
The impact was so severe that the car was completely mangled and the occupants were trapped inside. Local residents, police and fire and rescue personnel rushed to the spot. Rescue workers had to cut open the wreckage to retrieve the victims. All eight occupants were reported to have died at the scene.
The accident occurred near a diversion on an under-construction stretch of NH 66. According to Malayalam media reports, three lorries were parked along the roadside at the time, and the car crashed into the rear of a Maharashtra-registered lorry. Local residents have raised concerns over the absence of adequate warning signs and the parking of the lorry on the first lane of the highway. However, the exact cause of the accident is yet to be established by the police investigation.
The car involved in the accident was also registered in Tamil Nadu. The bodies were shifted to Thrissur Medical College for legal procedures and post-mortem examination. Police have launched an investigation into the accident.