Three students of Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering (SCT), Pappanamcode, were killed and two others injured when the car in which they were travelling collided head on with a KSRTC bus at Pathinaramile, near Korani, under the Mangalapuram police station limits, in the wee hours of Thursday.
The deceased have been identified as M Sharon of Melarannoor, Karamana; Praveen P P of Chirakkal, Kannur and Unnikrishnan Junior of Kalpathoor, Kozhikode. All of them were 21 years of age. According to police, five students of SCT College were returning from Papanasam, near Varkala, in a Hyundai i10 car, when their vehicle collided with a KSRTC Super Express heading for Munnar at 1.45 am. The car was driven by Sharon. Police said that the mishap occurred when the youth tried to overtake another car.
In this attempt, the car collided head on with the bus coming in the opposite direction. Sharon and Unnikrishnan died on the spot.
Police and Fire and Rescue Services personnel who rushed to the spot joined the public in the rescue operations. The passengers were pulled out of the mangled remains of the car.
Three passengers, Jishnu, George and Praveen, were taken to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. Praveen later succumbed to the injuries. The condition of Jishnu and George is said to be stable.
The post-mortem examinations were conducted at the Medical College Hospital. The bodies were embalmed and handed over to the relatives by 4 pm.