Cash-laden lorry falls into roadside pond

Nagercoil: A container-lorry, carrying new currency notes from the Government Mint at Mysore to Kerala plunged into a roadside pond near here after it went out of control, police said on Saturday. However, the vehicle was retrieved by fire personnel and police and put back on the road, they said.

The two container-lorries, escorted by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, were proceeding towards Thiruvananthapuram around noon yesterday when the driver of a lorry applied brake to avoid a herd of sheep near Sadayankulam but lost control of the vehicle and it fell into the pond, police said.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India officials from Thiruvananthapuram rushed to the spot and inspected the container. They said the currency notes and other articles in the container could not have been damaged as "water proof packing" had been done.

Besides, only small denomination notes had been loaded in the container, they said.

The container-lorry was retrieved late in the night with the help of a crane, and made its onward journey to Thiruvananthapuram, officials said.

Police said three sheep were killed in the accident, and the driver suffered minor injuries.