People gather near wreckage of a car after it collided with a lorry parked on the highway at Kaipamangalam, in Thrissur district, Keralam, on Saturday, September 5. PTI
Keralam highway, Thrissur accident: Forensic report points to alcohol use by TN students
The students were also involved in an altercation with the locals while searching for accommodation when they had stopped at Pathamkallu in Thalikulam, 15 kilometres from the accident spot, reports said
Some of the eight Tamil Nadu engineering students who were killed in a road accident in Kaipamangalam in Thrissur, Keralam, had consumed alcohol before the crash, preliminary post-mortem findings have indicated.
Dr. Hitesh Shankar, Head of the Forensic Department at Thrissur Government Medical College and Hospital, who supervised the post-mortems, said in a Facebook post that initial examinations pointed to some of the students being under the influence of alcohol.
Altercation with locals
He, however, said the presence of alcohol in blood alone cannot be blamed for the accident.
“Alcohol consumption can affect a driver’s judgement, attention, reaction time, coordination and perception of speed and distance, significantly increasing the risk of an accident. However, the presence of alcohol in the blood alone does not establish that it was the cause of the crash,” he said.
Also read: Keralam highway accident: Eight killed after car rams parked truck in Thrissur
Reports said that the students were involved in an altercation with the locals while searching for accommodation when they had stopped at Pathamkallu in Thalikulam, 15 kilometres from the accident spot.
The locals informed the police about the incident and fearing the cops, the students fled the area and were travelling at high speed before the fatal accident, reports added.
Accident on NH-66
According to police, the deceased were students of an engineering college in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, and were travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur along NH-66. Police said five of the deceased — Surya, Yuvasanjith, Joshua, Murali and Jeeva — were from Dindigul, while Santhosh and Prasanna were from Madurai and Vishva was from Salem.
The accident occurred around 11:40 pm on Friday (September 4) at Panambikkunnu in Kaipamangalam, when the car, travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur, collided with the rear of a Maharashtra-registered lorry, police said.
According to the police, their car rammed into a lorry parked "illegally" on NH-66 in Thrissur district of central Keralam.
Lorry parked illegally
The lorry was parked illegally on the right side of the highway near a barricaded stretch where traffic had been diverted as part of ongoing construction work, according to the FIR.
Police said the car was travelling at high speed and its driver apparently failed to notice the diversion barricade before the collision.
The students were pulled out of the mangled car during a rescue operation involving residents, fire and rescue personnel and police. Police said the identities of two others are yet to be confirmed.