28-year-old student from Kerala dies in fatal car crash in UK

A 28-year-old Indian-origin student was pronounced dead at the scene on Wednesday, February 22, when a car smashed into a bus stop and hit pedestrians in Leeds, northern England, according to British police. Athira Anilkumar Laly Kumari has been identified as the victim of the crash by West Yorkshire Police as it appealed for witnesses. According to the local Leeds Malayalee Association, Athira was from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and had started her studies at Leeds Beckett University last month.

"Athira was one of two pedestrians that suffered serious injuries in the collision, which involved a black Volkswagen Golf and caused damage to a bus stop," West Yorkshire Police said in a statement on Friday.

"The second pedestrian, a man in his forties, is continuing to recover in the hospital. The [Volkswagen] Golf driver, a 25-year-old woman, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and has since been released on bail as enquiries continue into the collision," the police said, appealing for footage from car cameras in the area on the day of the crash on February 22. The case is now reportedly being handled by the Indian Consulate in Birmingham to offer assistance to the victim's family in India.

In January 2022, two people from Kerala were killed in a car crash while three others were seriously injured at Cheltenham near Gloucester in Britain. The deceased were identified as Bins Rajan and Archana Nirmal. The injured were identified as Rajan’s wife Abagha, and their two-year-old child, besides Archana’s husband Nirmal Ramesh. Bins Rajan was a native of Kunnakkal of Ernakulam’s Muvattupuzha, Archana Nirmal is from Kollam district and Nirmal Ramesh is a native of Vallachira in Pathanamthitta.