WAYANAD : Two Karnataka natives were killed and 13 others injured after a tourist van collided with a lorry at 54th Mile in Sultan Bathery around 1.45am on Monday.
The deceased are driver Ranjith, 40, and helper Bharath, 22. The vehicle was carrying 13 postgraduate students of Mandya University, Karnataka, who were returning from a trip to Munnar. According to Sultan Bathery police, the van veered off the road following the collision, plunged into a crevice and overturned, trapping its occupants inside.
The impact jammed the vehicle’s doors, making it difficult for the passengers to escape. Fire and Rescue Services personnel cut open the overturned vehicle and rescued those trapped inside.
The injured were initially taken to various hospitals in Sultan Bathery and later to a private medical college in Wayanad. Four students remain in serious condition, the police said.
“The postmortem procedures have been completed, and their bodies have been handed over to their relatives,” a hospital official said.