IDUKKI: Three workers of a private cardamom estate at Aduvilunthan near Santhanpara were killed and three others seriously injured after a jeep carrying the workers overturned and fell 100 metres to the road below at Pulikuthu near Bodimettu in Tamil Nadu on Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Kannan, 40, and Dhanalakshmi, 45, natives of Bodinaykanur town, and Annakkili, 68, of Munthal village in Theni district of Tamil Nadu. The seriously injured, Chinnathai, Parameswari and Rani, have been admitted at the Medical College Hospital in Theni.
Seventeen others, who were also travelling in the jeep, including 25-year-old driver Murukeshan, suffered minor injuries and were admitted at the government hospital in Bodinaykanur and Medical College Hospital in Theni.
The jeep carrying the workers of the private cardamom estate at Aduvilunthan was heading to Tamil Nadu around 3.30 pm. While negotiating a curve at Kattadippara near Pulikuthu, the driver lost control of the vehicle which overturned onto the road 100 metres below the curve. Rescue activities were carried out by passengers of the vehicles that came after them.
Overloading and speeding are said to have caused the accident. The jeep was allowed to carry only seven passengers.
The bodies of the deceased are kept at the Theni Medical College Hospital. Korangini police have registered a case.