Sunstroke claims 2 lives in Kerala

KOZHIKODE/KOTTAYAM: Two persons  belonging to Kannur  and Kottayam  districts lost their lives due to sunstroke on Friday,  two days after the India Meteorological Department had warned of severe heat wave conditions  developing in several parts of   the state.  

In the first incident,  Valiya Karottil Joy, 65, of Chapparakkadavu, near Alakkode in Kannur district, fell unconscious on the roadside around 2 p.m. while returning home  after climbing coconut trees. The passersby took him to a private hospital nearby, where he was pronounced dead. The doctors suspected sunstroke after spotting burns on his neck and back and sent the body to Pariyaram medical college for confirmation.  After preliminary examination, the doctors there confirmed that the death was due to sunstroke.

“The district had reported incidents of sunstrokes earlier also, but this is the first time that a death has occurred. A report has been sent to the government. The district labour officer has been advised to monitor violations of the ban on mid-day work and take stringent action against employing people for outdoor jobs from 12 noon to 3 p.m.,” said district collector P. Bala Kiran.   

Joy is survived by wife Dolly, children Binoy, Gopi and Soniya and son-in-law Shaji.      In the second incident,  Sabu, 42, of Mundar near Kaduthuruthy, Kottayam, died after suffering 30 percent  sunburns in different parts of his body. He was found by the locals of Ezhumanthuruthu  around 12.30 p.m. beside a water-filled paddy field near his house. Sabu, a farmer,   had  gone to  catch fish from the stream by 11 a.m. The locals took him to the Holy Ghost Mission Hospital at Muttuchira where   he was declared dead.

Hospital sources said that the death was due to  sunburns on the stomach, behind his right arms and thigh.  Mr Shamsuddhin,  additional inspector of police at Kaduthuruthy police station who conducted the inquest,   said that there were no other scratches or abrasions on the body. The place where the body was found is in an isolated place.

The police registered a case for unnatural death. The post-mortem  will be held at the Kottayam MCH on Saturday morning. Sabu is survived by his wife Geetha,  children Sruthymol Sabu, a degree student, Sarath Sabu, a Plus-One student and Arjun Sabu studying in high school.