Kochi: Maradu church battles for life after being hit by scooter while on evening walk

KOCHI: The vicar of Maradu church was critically injured and is battling for life after a scooter hit him while he was on an evening walk on Thursday.

Fr Cheriyan Nereveetil of St Gianna Church, Maradu, who has not missed conducting a single live online Mass since the COVID outbreak last year, was found missing when a couple of boys who assist him reached the church on Friday morning.

The door of his room and the bedroom were open and his mobile phone was on his table. "The boys told me that Cheriyachan was missing. We searched nearby areas, and when we enquired at the nearby PS Mission Hospital, we were told that a person was brought injured last night, who was later shifted to Lakeshore Hospital, Maradu," said a parishioner.

A spokesperson for the Lakeshore Hospital said Fr Cheriyan is under observation after surgery on Thursday evening. The person who rode the scooter rushed the vicar to the PS Mission Hospital where he works from where he was brought to the Lakeshore Hospital.