KOCHI/IDUKKI/PALAKKAD: In a black weekend for groups out on pleasure trips, seven people drowned in three separate incidents in the state. While three members of a family drowned in the Muvattupuzha river near Vellur, Vaikom, a 19-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl met with their watery grave at the Thooval waterfalls, near Nedumkandam, Idukki. In another tragic incident, two engineering students from Coimbatore drowned while swimming in Palakkad’s Walayar dam.
The family of Johnson Mathai, of Arayankavu, had gathered on the banks of the Muvattupuzha river, near Cherukara bridge, for a swim. According to police, Jismol, 15, daughter of Johnson’s brother Joby, entered the water and was swept away by strong undercurrents.
Johnson, 56, and his sister’s son Alissiyo Sabu, 16, jumped into the river to save the girl but were also carried away by the water. Local residents who rushed to the spot after the relatives raised an alarm could not save the trio. Fire and rescue and police officers recovered the bodies after a two-and-a-half-hour search.
Joby’s family had arrived from the UK for the holidays and was scheduled to return within two days. Alissiyo was the son of Johnson’s sister Suni. According to police, Joby, his wife Soumya, Suni, and another sister Mini were at the spot when the tragedy occurred. The river is around 40ft deep in the area.
Walayar dam victims part of the eight-member group
Sebin Saji, of Thannimood, Nedumkandam, and Anila, of Kunnathumala, Pampadumpara had arrived at the Thooval waterfalls on Saturday afternoon. After the latter did not return home till late evening her family filed a complaint with Nedumkandam police. Meanwhile, local residents found an abandoned bike near the falls and informed the police.
A search was launched and the footwear of the two were found in the area. Around midnight, a fire and rescue team from Nedumkandam recovered the bodies, which were shifted to Kottayam Medical College Hospital for autopsy. Sebin was a second-year degree student and Anila was a Plus-One student at Kallar Government Higher Secondary School.
The two students who drowned in Walayar Dam were part of an eight-member group from a private engineering college in Coimbatore. On Sunday afternoon, three of the students entered the reservoir for a swim and slipped into the deep waters. While one of them was rescued by friends with the help of residents, the two others drowned.
The deceased are Shanmughan, 18, of Anna Nagar, Shankaramangalam, Namakkal, and Tirupathi, 18, of Jeeva Nagar, Udumalaipettai, Tirupur. Both were first-year students. The mishap occurred at Maavuthanpadiyil, near Navakkarai. The bodies were moved to the mortuary of Palakkad district hospital.
Johnson and Alissiyo were expert swimmers
It wasn’t the first time that Johnson Mathai, who drowned along with his niece Jismol Joby and nephew Alissiyo Sabu in the Muvattupuzha river on Sunday, had taken a bath in it. In fact, the family had been bathing in the river every day for the past week without an incident.
“A week ago, Johnson’s brother Sabu reached here from the UK with his family to take part in his brother-in-law’s cremation at Thodupuzha. Since the children were fond of water, they had been taking baths in the river for the past week.
However, on Sunday, Jismol got trapped in an undercurrent. While rescuing her, Johnson and Alissiyo too died,” said Jessy Joy, their neighbour and ward member of Amballoor panchayat. Johnson and Alissiyo were expert swimmers, Jessy said.
“Only Jismol did not know swimming,” she said. Johnson’s brother Joby, Joby’s wife Soumya, and his sisters Mini and Suni, who were also in the river, managed to escape. “Soumya, Mini and Suni were rescued by the local people,” said a resident.