PATHANAMTHITTA: Theirs was a fairytale love story. An eight-year-long courtship that culminated in marriage on November 30, and a honeymoon in Malaysia. Their plans to shift to Canada in January were also set. But the dreams of Nikhil Eapen Mathai and his wife Anu Biju shattered on early Sunday morning when the car in which the couple, along with their fathers, were travelling collided with a bus carrying Sabarimala pilgrims at Murinjakal in Koodal, Pathanamthitta.
The couple and Anu’s father Biju P George, who was at the wheel, and Nikhil’s father Mathai Eapen, were killed in the accident that took place around 4am.
Biju and Mathai Eapen had picked the couple up from the Thiruvananthapuram airport upon the latter’s return after spending honeymoon in Malaysia.
They were heading back home when their car met with the accident on the Punalur-Muvattupuzha state highway, just 7km from their house. The couple’s residences are within a 2km distance.
The police FIR said the accident took place as Biju fell asleep at the wheel.
The Telangana bus carrying Sabarimala pilgrims was partially damaged, while the front portion of the car was completely damaged in the impact. The bus driver and a few passengers suffered minor injuries. The bus driver said he applied the brakes suddenly on seeing the car approaching the vehicle at high speed.
Car pried open to take trapped victims out
Though he tried his best to avoid the collision, the car rammed the vehicle.
Soon, residents reached the spot and tried to help the victims. Later, police and fire and rescue services personnel arrived and used a hydraulic cutter to take out the four persons trapped inside the car. Efforts to break open the vehicle lasted about an hour.
The police said the three men died on the spot, while Anu succumbed to injuries at a nearby private hospital.
The bodies of the victims were handed over to their relatives.