Nine women died when a jeep fell into a creek in Kerala’s Wayanad district.
Wayanad (Kerala):
Nine women died after a jeep fell into a creek in Kerala’s Wayanad district on Friday. Police said all the women were working in a private tea garden. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge expressed grief over the loss of life in the accident.
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Police have confirmed that there were 14 people in the jeep, including the driver. The accident took place on Valad-Manantwadi road at 3.30 pm. “The jeep was returning to Makkimala with women working in a private tea garden,” a local resident told the media.
Local residents said the jeep skidded off the road while turning on a slope and fell into a ravine about 25 meters deep. Police said that the injured in the accident were taken to a hospital in Mananthavadi, but nine of them died.
“The condition of at least two people is critical,” a senior police official told PTI-Bhasha. Police said the women were daily laborers in a nearby tea garden. State Forest Minister AK Sasendran reached the accident site from Kozhikode on the instructions of Chief Minister Vijayan.
Speaking to reporters in Wayanad, Sasendran said that local people came to rescue the injured. He said, “There were reportedly 14 passengers in the jeep. Five are injured. Tragically, nine of them have died. The woman, Latha (41), requires special treatment and will be taken to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.
State Health Minister Veena George expressed condolences to the victims and directed the district medical officers to provide best treatment to the injured. He asked the authorities to speed up the post-mortem process and hire the services of more forensic surgeons if required.
Condoling the death of the workers, Chief Minister Vijayan said that the tragedy is very sad. Senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi said he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life in the jeep accident. He said on social media platform ‘X’ (earlier Twitter), “Having spoken to the district authorities, they have requested for immediate rescue operations. My condolences to the bereaved families. I wish the injured a speedy recovery.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said he was deeply saddened to hear about the tragedy. In a post on ‘X’, he said, “Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims in this hour of grief. We express our condolences and sympathies to the injured and wish them a speedy recovery.