CM Oommen Chandy escapes unhurt in accident

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy escaped unhurt after his car met with an accident at Kanakkary in Ettumanoor at 2:50 am on Sunday. He had a narrow escape and if not for the seat belt he had on, it would have been a different case.

Usually, the CM tries to end his car journey by 12.30 am but there were seven programmes on Saturday and they went on until the wee hours.

CM’s car skidded and fell into a drain after hitting the wall nearby when its right tyre burst. The CM was sitting on the left rear seat behind his gunman Ashokan, who suffered minor injuries. Car driver K. Radhakrishnan, a Vellarada native, was at a reasonable speed and was returning from Malappuram to Kottayam.

He told DC that the CM was taking a catnap when the tyre burst and five minutes before the accident, he had asked them where they had reached.

“I was asleep when the incident occurred,” Mr Chandy later told reporters. “I had fastened my seatbelt and we had a miraculous escape.”

The CM continued his trip in the escort car to Nattakom Guest House where he reached at 4 am.

Doctors from Kottayam Medical College examined him and they wanted to take his ECG. But he declined, saying he would let them know if he felt any discomfort.

Sources close to the CM told DC that he hardly slept after the accident as he had a mass to attend at St Thomas Orthodox Church, Pampady, at 5 am.

Earlier, the CM had dinner from Pattambi MLA C. P. Mohammed’s house and by 11.50 pm, the entourage reached Thrissur and was on their way to Kottayam when the accident happened on the Vaikom – Ettumanoor Road.

The CM had eight programmes in his Puthupally constituency today. After that, he left for Aluva to inaugurate two major bridges and rested in Ernakulam.

On Monday, he would inaugurate the ceremony of the test flight landing at the Kannur International Airport and from there he would proceed to Kasaragod. The CM is expected to arrive here on Tuesday morning on the Maveli Express.