KANNUR: A speeding van ploughed into a group of lower primary students at Perumannu near Irikkur here killing nine tiny tots.
Nineteen other kids who sustained serious injuries are being treated in various hospitals.
The incident, which triggered sad memories of the Thattekad boat mishap of February last, occurred around 4.15 pm on the Irikkur-Iritty State highway, splashing bloody waves of shock on the village calm.
Eyewitnesses told to this website's newspaper that the van apparently lost control and hurtled into the wrong lane, heading towards the children of Sreenarayana Vilasam LP School who were returning home. The children were mowed down even before many of them could scream for help.
Two lives were lost on the spot.
Bodies lay strewn on the road. Bloodsoaked schools bags lay scattered. Amid them lay the injured children wailing in pain. Most of them had crushed limbs; some faces were beyond recognition.
No one knew who had died and who were injured even as local people rushed to help. The names of the children involved were collected from their belongings.
As the accident site was some 45 minutes from the nearest hospital, six more died en route to hospital. One more succumbed immediately after she was brought to Talap Government Hospital.
The driver of the ill-fated vehicle, Abdul Kabir, himself rushed a few of the seriously injured to hospital before surrendering at the Irikkur police station.
One of the passengers in the van told a private TV channel that Kabir had been driving continuously since last evening and had fallen asleep at the wheel. The van jumped a road divider before ramming into the unwary children.
Though there was initial suspicion that the driver was in an inebriated condition, the police later ruled it out. People thronged the police station and demanded that the police produce Kabir before them, leading to some tense and anxious moments.
But that was nothing compared to the anxiety that creased all faces as people rushed to various hospitals, including the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital, AKG Hospital, Talap and the Government District Hospital, Kannur.
The bodies of Anusree (IIIA), Sneha (IIB), Ramshana (IIB), Mithuna (I), Nandana (IIB) and Sajana (I) were at the AKG Hospital, Talap while that of Sandra (III B) is at the Government District Hospital. The body of Vaishnav is at the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital.
Four children who sustained serious injuries and are battling for their lives at the intensive care unit of the AKG Hospital are Abhinath, Sneha, Athul and Abishek. Six other injured children have been admitted to the Pariyaram Medical college Hospital, Pariyaram.
The police said that the faces of most of the injured were badly crushed in the accident. The sight of parents and relatives trying to identify their dear ones was so heart-wrenching that even the youths involved in rescue efforts broke down. The government reaction was instant, with three ministers - Mathew T Thomas, M A Baby and P K Sreemathy - rushing to Irikkur. The Transport Minister ordered the District Collector to cancel Kabir’s licence. Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was quick to express his shock and announced that the injured children would be given the best of treatment.