Three migrant labourers from West Bengal, out on an evening walk, were crushed under the wheels of a parcel lorry at Kolathara, near Nallalam, here on Sunday. Three of their friends have been admitted to hospital with serious injuries.
The police have identified two of the dead as Sajith Kumar, 25, and Lakshmi Ram, 31.
Witnesses said the lorry hit the workers after running a few metres off the road. The vehicle then overturned on ramming an avenue tree, they said.
Two were killed on the spot. The other was declared dead in a private hospital. The bodies have been moved to the Government Medical College Hospital. The injured have been moved to the intensive care unit of a hospital. The condition of one of them was critical during admission.
It took a few hours to identify the victims as no-one familiar with them could be traced. Later, the police contacted some migrant labourers and got the details.
The victims worked in a footwear company near Nallalam. On Sundays, they used to go out for small purchases and often to recharge their mobile phones, A. Javed and Firoz Babu, industrial workers from Kolathara, said. The efforts of the Fire and Rescue Services to lift the overturned lorry went in vain. The local people lifted it and saved those trapped inside.