The lives of 17 Malayalis were lost in major road accidents on Wednesday, one each in Oman and Ras al Khaimah and the third in Mandya in Karnataka.
Eight persons belonging to two families and another person were killed in a car accident in Oman on Wednesday morning. Among the victims were a five-member family from Mattannur in Kannur and a three-member family from Kuttippuram in Malappuram. Four of the dead were children.
Mustafa Animangalath, 36; his wife Rukhiya, 36; and daughter Muhsina, 9; belonged to Kuttippuram. Their friend Khalid Moulavi, 33; wife Safnas, 24; children Mohammed Aseem, 7; Mohammed Anas, 5; and Fatima, 3; hailed from Mattannur. Rishan, 25, from South Bazaar, Kannur, was also killed.
According to reports reaching here, their car collided with a sports utility vehicle while they were returning to Khaboora in Oman after spending Id-ul-Fitr holidays at Salala.
All the nine in the car were killed instantly and the car torn to pieces. Reports indicated that two occupants of the sports utility vehicles too had lost their lives.
Second accident
In the second major road accident involving Malayalis in the Gulf region, three persons hailing from Karunagappally in Kollam district lost their lives at Ras al Khaimah. The deceased were identified as Basheer Pookunju, 40; his relative A. Hashim, 21; and their friend Shamir Ismail, 23.
According to family sources, Shamir and Hashim had gone to Dubai last week after getting employment in a mobile phone shop that Basheer was to have opened at Ras al Khaimah on Wednesday.
Tragedy strikes again
Five of a family from Edakkara in Malappuram district lost their lives when the multi-utility vehicle in which they were travelling rammed a roadside tree near the Municipal College at Mandya during the wee hours of Wednesday. Ayesha, 62; her son Abbas, 44; his wife Baby Sharija, 35; their son Jabbar, 18; and Ayesha’s another son Jaffar, 25; reportedly died at the scene of the accident.
Jaffer’s wife Asifa, 18; their son Aman, 4; daughter Naina, 5; and their relative Akhil, 6; escaped, but with serious injuries.
According to the surviving members of the family, they were on their way to Bangalore to see a plot that Ayesha’s family had purchased.
