Three persons, including two kindergarten students, were killed when a van of a pre-school fell into a pond at Kattithara in Maradu here on Monday.
The dead were identified as Adithyan S. Nair, 4, son of Sreejith, and Vidya Lekshmi, 4, daughter of Sanil, and Latha Unni, 45, who worked as an ayah at the school.
The condition of driver Anil Kumar, aka Babu, admitted to a private hospital in the city is serious while Ann, another kid, is recovering at a hospital.
The police said the accident occurred at 4.10 p.m. when the van of Kidz World was negotiating an ‘S’-shaped curve along the narrow Kattithara Road, located in an interior area. The van, carrying eight kids and the ayah, skidded and fell into the waterbody.
Local residents, who rushed to the spot, commenced rescue operations and pulled out the driver and the kids from the vehicle. As the doors at one side of the van were locked, those trapped were taken out breaking the window glasses.
Though the loose soil around the pond made the rescue operations difficult, the vehicle was taken out of the water by the time Fire and Rescue Services personnel reached the spot.
Hospital authorities said all the three were brought dead to the hospital.
As per preliminary probe, the vehicle was speeding and skidded while the driver applied brakes to negotiate the curve. “The driver, while negotiating the curve, lost control of the vehicle, which then skidded off the road and fell into the waterbody,” said an officer with the Maradu police station.
The traffic police may soon register a case under Section 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code against the driver. “To ascertain if the vehicle was speeding, CCTV visuals from a nearby house will be also examined,” said K.A. Abdul Salam, ACP (Traffic East).
Earlier, Collector K. Muhammed Y. Safirulla and City Police Commissioner M.P. Dinesh visited the spot.
Considering a request from the kin of the deceased, the bodies were handed over without conducting post-mortem examination.
Sources said the body of Adithyan and Vidya Lekshmi would be taken to their ancestral homes at Chengannur and Mavelikara for cremation.