Wayanad: A mother and daughter are among the dead after a jeep overturned and plunged into a 25-metre gorge in Mananthavady on Friday.

The deceased are Karthiayani (64), Thekkekunnath Veedu, Rani (62) Valiyaparambil House, Shaja (48) wife of Pramod alias Babu, Panjami House, Shobhana (56) Pulikkottil House, Chithra (33) wife of Karthik, Santha (52) 6th Number Colony, Chinnamma (52) wife of Chandran, Rabiya (60), Kappungal House and Leela (55) Koolathodi House. All are from Makkimala near Thalapuzha. Padmanabhan, a resident of 6th Number Colony lost both his wife, Shantha, and daughter, Chithra, in the accident.

The bodies of the dead were kept in the mortuary of Government Medical College Hospital in Mananthavady here.

Police recorded the statement of Mani, the driver of the ill-fated jeep, who has also been admitted in Government Medical College Hospital in Mananthavady, among the other injured. “The vehicle went out of control due to brake failure,” said Mani, in his statement.

Forest minister visits injured

"Among the 14 passengers, 13 expect the driver were women. Latha (41) who is critically injured will be taken to Kozhikode Government Medical College," said forest minister A K Saseendran after visiting the injured at Government Medical College, Wayanad on Friday.

He added that a decision on compensation will be taken based on the report from district collector.

2 referred to MCH

Dr Arjun Jose, Resident Medical Officer, Government Medical College Hospital, Mananthavady, told Onmanorama that among the five patients admitted to the hospital, two have been referred to Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode for better treatment as their condition worsened.

Those referred to MCH, Kozhikode, were Latha and Mohanasundari. The others, who remain at the hospital are Umadevi, Jayanthi, and Manikantan alias Mani, the driver.

The condition of the trio is not serious, Dr Jose said, adding that all the nine who died were 'brought dead' to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the police have completed the inquest. The postmortem of the bodies will begin at 8 am on Saturday. The bodies would be handed over to the relatives by 11 am. A public homage will be offered at the Government LP School, Makkimala from 12 pm on Saturday.

The tragedy

The accident occurred around 3:30 pm near Kannothmala at Thalappuzha as the vehicle was ferrying workers from a plantation.

The jeep was completely destroyed in the accident. In the impact of the fall the vehicle split in two.

The ill-fated vehicle is owned by the Deepu Trading Company, a leaf trading company registered in Mananthavady. Apart from natives, Thalappuzha has a large number of migrant Tamil labourers from Sri Lanka who have been working here, in the tea plantations, for generations. All the women dead as well as injured were tea pickers hired by the Deepu Trading Company.

Thavinjal panchayat president Elsy Joy and district medical officer confirmed the deaths.

Manorama News reported that the plantation workers were on the way to their home after work at the plantation in Kambamala.

The jeep - registered KL 12 B 5665 - belonged to Deepu Tea Trading Company hit a culvert on the hairpin at Kannamala and fell into the gorge strewn with rocks and boulders as it lost control.

CM, Rahul Gandhi condole

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi expressed shock over the tragedy.

"Deeply saddened by the tragic jeep accident that took the lives of many tea plantation workers in Mananthavady, Wayanad. Have spoken to the district authorities, urging a swift response. My thoughts are with the grieving families. Wish a speedy recovery to those injured," Rahul tweeted.

The CM directed Forest Minister A K Saseendran, who was in Kozhikode, to rush to the accident site. The CM gave directions to coordinate all measures including the treatment of the injured and take care of other necessary things, a CMO statement said here.

State Health Minister Veena George expressed condolences and directed the district medical authorities to provide the best treatment to the injured.

She also asked the authorities to speed up the postmortem procedures and make use of more forensic surgeons' service if needed.