Kerala: 5 missing as van goes off bridge

Kochi: Five persons went missing in the Vembanad lake on Tuesday evening after a pickup van carrying nine men rammed into the railing of the Aroor bridge and crashed into the backwaters.   Fishermen saved four persons.  

Three of them, identified as Lokman Hale, 32, Suresh Khathri, 28, and  Behadoor Rekha, 36,  of Nepal,  were  admitted to Lakeshore Hospital, Ernakulam,  and an unidentified person  was taken to the Lakshmi hospital, Aroor. According to the police, the pickup van belonged to Chithra Decorations at Edapally. Driver Nijas of Aroor and eight labourers from Nepal were travelling to Panavally from Bolgatty after an event management work.

The missing are Himalal, Shyam, Gaman, Madhu and driver Nijas. Seven men had started from Bolgatty and two others joined them from Palarivattom. Four persons were sitting in the rear-end of the vehicle. The police suspect  that  the missing are those who were  sitting inside the van.   According to SI Vinod Krishna,  the car took a sudden turn and rammed the railing.

The police and an eight-member naval team   searched for the missing persons.  The  search was streamlined with the help of  local fishermen who could gauge the flow of water in the lake.  “The search was hit by the huge undercurrents but we are trying our best to find the missing persons,” said  Ernakulam Range IG S. Sreejith.