The four young men from Chittur in Palakkad who died in a car accident in Jammu and Kashmir on December 5 are remembered by their village as “hardworking youth” who used to go on such trips everywhere.
The four—Sudesh, Anil, Rahul and Vignesh—were part of a 13-member tourist group from the Nedungode area in Chittur here.
People from their village remember the four as “hardworking” and good natured.
“They used to go on such trips every year. They were very well behaved young men. It is really sad to hear about their death.
“What happened is so unexpected that we are unable to come to terms with it. All four of them lived within a 100-metre radius. They were close friends and had grown up together,” one of the local people told a TV channel.
He also said that two of the deceased had got married in February this year.
They were interested in travel and therefore had created a fund for the same, he said.
“Last time, they went on a trip to Kulu-Manali and this time they went to Delhi, then Agra, and then to Jammu and Kashmir. They were scheduled to return from there on December 7 and would have reached here on December 10,” he said.
Another villager said the four were helpful to everyone and, therefore, everyone held them in high regard.
“The bodies are expected to reach here on December 7 is what we have heard,” he said.
A woman living close to the victims’ homes, said, “They were very good children. We are unable to bear the loss. For us, they are like our own children”.
The State government’s Non-Resident Keralites welfare agency (NoRKA) Roots said that an official from its Delhi office had gone to Jammu and Kashmir to coordinate efforts to bring back the remains of those who died and also the other members of the tourist group.
A NoRKA official said that three others who were in the vehicle that fell into the ravine were injured with one of them in a critical condition that required brain surgery.
While the tourist in a critical condition has been shifted to SKIMS in Srinagar, the other two had minor injuries and are admitted in the primary health centre at Sonamarg there.
The remains of the four deceased were kept at the Sonamarg Primary Health Centre, he said.
The accident occurred when the tourist group were returning to Srinagar from Leh in two cabs.
The driver of the cab carrying seven of the 13 tourists lost control at a turn near the Zojila Pass, on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, as the road was slippery due to snow and fell into a ravine.
Besides the four from Kerala, the cab driver—who hailed from Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district—also died.
