KOZHIKODE: They were friends from childhood, and the bond stayed even after their schooling. Coming from below average families, one after the other, the nine of the gang, chose to do odd jobs and help support the families. Amal Krishna and Vineesh K.K. are still not able to forget the final moments when they encountered death. “The river was calm. There were no signs of a downpour, and the climate was also clear. All of us used to go to short trips to nearby places, after the work and the recent one was to nearby Janakikkad. Rajeesh (whose body was first found) had reached just three weeks ago from the Gulf and his return ticket for September 27 was also ready,” said Amal, who was still in shock.
Some of them had visited the site two days before the mishap and invited others on Sunday evening when they were done with the construction works at the house of Jishnu and Vishnu Raj. The team reached the spot, a hydroelectric project by KSEB, around noon in an autorickshaw and a bike. While six of the friends chose to be on the right side of the Kadanthara river, two of them, Vineesh and Amal opted to be on the lower side. Jishnu, on the other hand, hesitated to enter the waters.
“Six of them were playing with the iron rod placed across the river. In a fraction of a second, the colour of the water changed with flash floods seen almost the height of two people. Nothing was visible, and we ran along the course of the river, crying aloud,” said Vineesh. The youngsters also said that nobody cautioned them about the area, and they were not aware of the history of landslides there more than a decade ago. All of the friends were members of DYFI in Kothode, where Rajeesh was president and Vipin Das secretary. Akshay was a mechanical engineering diploma student of Ideal College, Perambra, and Sajin studying at Mercy College, Perambra.
