An autorickshaw driver met with a tragic end and three passengers were injured after the vehicle reportedly turned turtle after colliding with a sambar deer that sped across their path at Kadapara along the Punnekkad-Thattekkad Road within the Keerampara panchayat limits at Kothamangalam in Ernakulam around 10 p.m. on on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Vigil P.N., 41, of Elamblassery in Mamalakandam ward of Kuttampuzha panchayat, some 15 km from Kothamangalam town. He was taking a person from his neighbourhood who had sustained a wound on his hand to a hospital in Kothamangalam town.
Reportedly, the deer arrowed across the autorickshaw from the left side of the road and collided with the vehicle. In the impact, the victim lost control of the vehicle which then turned upside down. While the three passengers escaped with minor injuries, Vigil got stuck under the vehicle, leaving him with serious injuries, which eventually proved fatal.
He was eased out from underneath the autorickshaw by the passengers and forest department employees. He was initially rushed to Dharmagiri St. Joseph’s Hospital at Kothamangalam from where he was referred to Rajagiri Hospital in Aluva.
“He was brought here around 11 p.m. Since the autorickshaw had fallen on him, he had broken ribs and internal haemorrhage. Polytraum, has been cited as the cause of death,” said hospital sources.
He was found to have suffered injuries to his head, chest and abdomen. Vigil eventually succumbed to his injuries around 2 a.m.
Yet another life being lost to the worsening human-animal conflict had created some tension initially before the authorities concerned intervened to calm things down. However, a protest has been planned at Punnekkad later in the evening.
“The stretch where the tragedy took place is prone to frequent elephant invasion,” said Siby K.A., chairman, development standing committee, Kuttampuzha panchayat.
The deceased is survived by his wife, two children and his ailing mother. The funeral will be held in the evening.
Incidentally, the tragedy comes exactly a week after the Kothamangalam town witnessed acrimonious protests by the Congress over the surging casualties on account of human-animal conflict along the high ranges across the State. The protesters had staged a sit-in in the heart of the Kothamangalam town with the body of a woman who was trampled to death by an elephant Kanjiraveli in Adimaly. The police had to cane charge the protestors to recover the body after more than two hours.
