Mortal remains of Malayalees who died in J&K road accident to reach Kerala on Dec 8: State govt

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 7 (PTI) The Kerala government on Thursday said that the mortal remains of the four men from Palakkad who died in a car accident in Jammu and Kashmir on December 5 would reach the state on December 8.

State Minister for Local Self-Governments and Excise M B Rajesh said in a social media post that the bodies of the four would reach Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery on Friday at 2.25 am.

The minister said the remains would be brought to Kerala on an Indigo flight which would depart from Srinagar on Thursday around 6 pm and reach Kochi via Mumbai.
Besides the mortal remains of the four men — Sudesh, Anil, Rahul and Vignesh — who died in the accident, their six friends who were a part of the same tour group would also be on the same flight, he said.

The remaining three members of the 13-person excursion group would remain at SKIMS hospital in Srinagar as one of them is in critical condition, the minister said.
The remains are being brought back at state expense, he added.

According to residents of Chittur in Palakkad district, where all 13 members of the tour group hail from, the deceased were hardworking youth who used often go on such trips.
The accident occurred when the tourist group were returning to Srinagar from Leh in two cabs.
As the road was slippery due to snow, the driver of the cab carrying seven of the 13 tourists lost control at a turn near Zojila Pass on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway and fell into a ravine.

Apart from the four men from Kerala, the cab driver — who hailed from Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district — also died.