PALAKKAD: Eight people were feared dead when the ambulance in which they were being taken to the district hospital collided with a mini lorry at Thaniserry here today.
The incident happened at around 3 p.m. The deceased were identified as Fawaz, Nazar, Ummer Farooq, who were natives of Ongallur near Pattambi, and the ambulance driver, Sudheer, Nikhil, Sivan and Vysakh who was natives of Nenmara.
A tourist group which had gone to Nelliampathy in a car from Shoranur had met with an accident at Marappalam in Nelliampathy. The car had fallen into a gorge. The locals who gathered had transported the injured to the primary health center in Nenmara where they were given first aid.
However as fate would have it, the ambulance transporting the injured to the district hospital rammed into a mini lorry which was transporting fish.
Some of the relatives of the car accident victims had come to the Nenmara PHC to check on them and two of the relatives accompanied the injured in the ambulance to the district hospital when the fatal incident happened.
The mangled ambulance was cut open to take out the victims. The bodies have been kept at the mortuary of the district hospital .
V.K.Sreekantan, MP, Shafi Parambil, MLA and former MP M.B. Rajesh visited the relatives of the deceased at the district hospital.