KOZHIKODE / KASARAGOD /THRISSUR : Heavy rain lashed Kerala, especially the northern districts, on Saturday, triggering a series of fatal accidents, land cave-ins, and structural collapses that claimed five lives, including three children.
Two siblings — aged 14 and 9 — died after a compound wall collapsed on them in Kasaragod, while a woman and her son drowned in Kuttiadi river in Kozhikode. Meanwhile, a 28-year-old man died after a tree uprooted and fell on a shed during strong winds in Thrissur on Friday.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued orange alerts for Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts on Sunday, and a yellow alert for other districts.
At Sanchakkadavu in Kasaragod’s Delampady panchayat, two siblings — Class 8 student Musammil and Class 5 student Munsir — died and their friend, Wahash,14, suffered injuries after the retaining wall of a recently inaugurated house collapsed in heavy rain, burying them. Though local residents and Adhoor police took the children to a hospital, their siblings’ lives could not be saved. Wahash remains critical at a private hospital.
In Kozhikode, Kuttiadi river claimed the lives of a 35-year-old woman, Remya Subheesh, and her son. Remya, a pharmacist, had gone to the river near her house at Kadiyangad around 5pm to wash clothes, accompanied by her two children.
Her seven-year-old son accidentally slipped into the water and was caught in the swift currents. Remya jumped into the river to save him. Alerted by the cries of her elder child, local residents pulled Remya out of the water. However, she was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. The boy’s body was recovered later.
In Thrissur, a 28-year-old man died after a tree uprooted and fell on a shed during strong winds on Friday. Vishnu, from Manalur, was sleeping in the temporary palm-leaf shed constructed adjacent to his house as part of the ongoing house construction when the tree in the compound fell on the shed, trapping him underneath.