THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The two-year-old daughter of violinist Balabhaskar died while the musician and his wife suffered critical injuries when the car in which they were travelling hit a tree near Pallipuram in the district on Tuesday. The mishap occurred by 4.30 am and it is presumed that the driver had dozed off behind the wheels resulting in the accident. Balabhaskar, his wife Lakshmi Santhakumari and daughter Thejaswini Bala were returning to Thiruvananthapuram after visiting a temple in Thrissur.
The front portion of the car got severely damaged in the impact. Balabhaskar was sitting in the front seat with his daughter. It was the Highway Police that launched the initial rescue operations. The Mangalapuram police said Thejaswini was bleeding from her nose and was unconscious when she was taken off the mangled car. Mangalapuram S I J Ajayan said the car had crossed the National Highway and rammed the tree that was on the other side of the road. “Because of that we presume that the driver might have nodded off,” Ajayan said.
The injured have been shifted to a private hospital in the city where Thejaswini was declared brought dead. The condition of Balabhaskar and Lakshmi continues to be critical. Balabhaskar underwent a surgery and a hospital source said the two were still on the ventilator. “They are under 24-hour observation and we can’t say anything before that,” the hospital source said. The condition of driver Arjun has slightly improved.