COIMBATORE: An elderly couple hailing from Kerala and their two-month-old grandson died after the car collided with a van on the Salem - Kochi Highway near Madukkarai on Thursday. The deceased were identified as Jacob Abraham (60) of Eraviperoor near Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district, his wife Sheeba Jacob (55) and Aaron Jacob Thomas. Jacob’s daughter Alina Thomas (30) suffered severe injuries and is admitted in a private hospital in Coimbatore.
Police said the family was on its way to Bengaluru where Alina is scheduled to write an examination later this month. The family planned to stay with Abraham’s son, who is working in Bengaluru, and started from Thiruvalla early in the morning. Abraham was driving the car.
The accident took place around 11.30 am near Bodipalayam junction when Abraham jumped the lane on the two-way road and collided into a courier van that was coming in the opposite direction. In the impact, Abraham, his wife and the child died on the spot. Alina, wife of Thomas Kuriakose of Punalur in Kollam district, was rescued from the mangled car and taken to a private hospital by police and local people. Madukkarai police sent the bodies of the deceased to CMCH for post-mortem. The registered a case and took custody of the courier van driver K Sakthivel of Karur.