As many as 13 pilgrims from Karnataka have been hospitalised with injuries they sustained when their bus rammed a wayside wall near Laha on the Pathanamthitta-Pampa main trunk road leading to Sabarimala on Thursday afternoon.
According to the police, the incident occurred around 1 p.m. The bus was carrying 59 passengers. Seven passengers who were injured were given first aid at the Community Health Centre at Perinad.
All the 13 pilgrims who appeared to have sustained serious injuries were rushed to the General Hospital in Pathanamthitta. One of them, identified as Rama Gowda, 59, has been shifted to the Government Medical College in Kottayam.
All the pilgrims hailed from Mandya in Karnataka and they were returning from Sabarimala, the police said. The 12 injured who have been admitted to the General Hospital here have been identified as Samuvayya, 37; Prasannakumar, 37; Vijayakumar, 56; Keerthi, 5; Moorthi, 40; Ramesan, 45; Ramachandra, 37; Prakash, 40; Hareesh, 35; Mahesh, 30; Mahadevan, 40; Chipra Gowda, 58.
Narrow escape
As many as 39 passengers from Andhra Pradesh who were returning from Sabarimala had a miraculous escape when the bus that carried them rammed an earthen wall on the wayside on Wednesday night. A major mishap was averted with the bus failed to move forward after hitting an iron girder at the U-Turn, stopping it from plunging into a nearly 200-ft deep ravine beneath. The driver of the bus sustained a minor injury on the chest and a pilgrim was injured as he was thrown out of the vehicle.
