SABARIMALA: Fifteen injured in an accident when the mini bus carrying pilgrims coming after darsan collided head on with a Pampa-bound KSRTC bus at Chelikkuzhy, near Plappally, on the Mannarakulanji-Pampa road at 11.30 am on Friday. Soon after the accident, Safe Zone personnel rushed to the accident spot and took the victims to the General Hospital at Pathanamthitta.
Of the 15, the four seriously hurt were admitted to Kottayam Medical College Hospital. They are Guruvardhan, 33, Chandra 38, Venkiteswara Rao, 12, and mini bus driver Manoj, 35, Kottayam.
The injured admitted to Pathanamthitta General Hospital included Srinivasa Rao, 37, Sreenivas, 27, Sreenivasa Reddy, Sreenu, 35, Narasimha, 45, Venkitesa Narayana 35, Nagesh, and Vijay 5, all from Andhra.
TDB cautions against misinformation campaign
Sabarimala: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has cautioned against a misinformation campaign against the ongoing Sabarimala pilgrimage in the wake of Cyclone Ockhi and heavy rainfall that has lashed the state since Thursday. TDB president A Padmakumar said on Friday the weather did not affect the pilgrimage season. The inflow of pilgrims was normal and the temple was closed as usual at 11 pm.