Four youths, all house surgeons at the Government Medical College here, were killed when the car they were travelling in fell off a cliff at Kolahalamedu on Koottickal-Elangad road near Wagamon on Tuesday night.
Two of their colleagues have been admitted to the medical college hospital with serious head injuries.
The dead have been identified as K.C. Aneesh Kumar of Mannamala near Peroor, R. Ratheesh Kumar of Anchal in Kollam, Anto C. James of Udumbannoor near Thodupuzha and Joseph George of Changanassery.
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Vinshnu Dayal from Thiruvananthapuram and Alpohnse from Bharananganam were injured.
According to their batch-mates, six of them had gone on a jaunt on their day off after hectic month-long service at the community medicine and ENT departments.
They took part in the flash strike called by the house surgeons in the morning and took off in the afternoon, planning to return the same night.
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The accident occurred at the sharp curve near Thangal Para where thick fog had engulfed the route. The vehicle went off the cliff and plunged to a depth of over 1,000 feet down. Two of them were thrown out of the car. The other four went down along with the vehicle.
The accident occurred before 9 p.m. on Tuesday, but help came in the form of a local person only after nearly two hours.
Mr. Dayal and Mr. Alphonse were rushed to the medical college hospital. Rescue operations were hampered by the drizzle and thick fog in the area. The last of the four bodies was recovered only after 6 a.m. on Wednesday.
After post-mortem on Wednesday, the bodies were placed at the medical college for the public to pay their last respects. The bodies were handed over to their relatives later in the day