KAVALAPPARA: A small crowd of people who gathered on Monday morning at the cemetery of St Mary’s Church, Bhoothanam, to attend the funeral of two kids -- seven-year-old Aleena and five-year-old Anagha who died in the landslide at Kavalappara -- were trying hard to control their tears.
The duo was daughters of brothers Victor and Vinoj, who were living in the same house which was swept away in the tragedy.
The coffins of the cousin sisters were buried in one grave. Victor and his wife Jancy could not control their emotions when the body was taken to the graveyard. According to neighbours, the duo used to sleep together and the parents allowed them to do so in the grave too.
The body of Aleena was recovered on Sunday after three days of efforts by the rescue workers. As usual, she was sleeping on her bed when the tragedy hit.
Though other members of the family escaped, Aleena and Anagha were trapped under the concrete debris of the hose.
Aleena’s body was spotted on Friday but it could be recovered only after removing the concrete slab by Sunday morning.
Though the relatives and neighbours took Anagha on Thursday night itself to a hospital, she breathed her last on Friday afternoon.
“It was heartbreaking to see the duo lying in coffins. Their grandfather, Thomas, tried his best to save Aleena but could not,” said Shijo Mathew, a friend of Victor.
On the day of the tragedy, Victor was not in the area as he had gone to Kollam for his job and could reach the spot only by Friday morning.
Rajesh, another neighbour, said he could not believe that the kids have died. “I had seen Aleena on Thursday morning, the day she left us,” he added.
Earlier, the bodies were kept in the church for around an hour for people in the area to pay their last respects.