Grief sweeps Kerala village as bodies of Tamil Nadu accident victims arrive

The premises of a state-run school in Pang village turned into a place of collective mourning on Saturday as the bodies of 9 people were brought.

Malappuram: They had begun their journey together in a tempo traveller, bound by friendship and shared moments of joy. They came back, however, in nine ambulances -- lifeless, leaving an entire village grappling with an overwhelming sense of loss.

The premises of a state-run school in Pang village here turned into a place of collective mourning on Saturday as the bodies of 9 people--teachers, non-teaching staff and their relatives associated with the Palliparamba Government Lower Primary School--were brought back following a fatal road accident in neighbouring Tamil Nadu on Friday.

The convoy of ambulances, which left Pollachi after postmortem procedures that concluded in the early hours, reached the Ambalaparambu government higher secondary school in the morning.

The bodies were placed one after another in the school compound for the public to pay their last respects.

A large number of people gathered on the campus--students in tears, anxious parents, stunned colleagues and villagers who had long shared close bonds with the victims.

Several people broke down on seeing the bodies, with some fainting and others crying inconsolably, reflecting the depth of the tragedy that has shaken them.

"Now only three of us remain in the staff room," a teacher said, struggling to come to terms with the loss.

Another colleague recalled how she had narrowly missed being part of the trip.

"We were also supposed to go, but dropped the plan due to some reasons," the woman told a TV channel.

Local villagers said the school community functioned like a close-knit family. "We were all like one family," a neighbour said, watching the proceedings with tear-filled eyes.

According to sources, a 13-member group comprising teachers, non-teaching staff, their relatives and a driver had set out on Friday morning.

Nine of them were killed in the accident, while the remaining four, who sustained serious injuries, are undergoing treatment at hospitals in the neighbouring state, they said.

The trip, which was not organised officially by the school, included a visit to Athirappilly waterfalls before the group proceeded towards Valparai in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, where the accident took place.

Postmortem examinations of all nine victims were completed at a government hospital in Pollachi between midnight and 4 am, following which the bodies were transported back to Malappuram.

Several leaders, including State General Education Minister V Sivankutty, MLA A P Anil Kumar and Manjalamkuzhi Ali, visited the school to pay their respects.

The bodies were later taken to their respective homes for the last rites.

Speaking to reporters here, Sivankutty said the tragedy had dealt a severe blow to the school, with most of its teaching staff among the victims.

He said the government would take urgent steps to ensure adequate appointments before the school reopens after the summer vacation in June.

The minister also said counselling support would be provided to students affected by the incident and assured that families of the deceased would receive financial assistance from the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.

He added that a detailed inquiry would be conducted into the accident and appropriate measures would be taken to help prevent similar incidents in the future.