Six students of the TKM College of Engineering here were killed when the car they were travelling in was involved in a head-on collision with a fully loaded LPG bullet tanker early Thursday on the National Highway near Chathannur.
The police said the accident occurred near the Seematti junction around 2.15 a.m. All the six were sixth semester B.Tech. mechanical engineering students. They were identified as Nixon Abey Mathew of Thirumullavaram and Aju Prakash of Kilikollur in Kollam city, Sayyed Inzamam Thangal of Karikode on the outskirts of Kollam city, Sijo George John of Kozhencherry, Arun K. Sabu of Kothamangalam, and Adil Shah of Kadakkal.
The police said the students, all 21 years old, were returning to Kollam from Varkala after taking part in the New Year celebrations.
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The bullet tanker was on its way to the LPG bottling plant of Indian Oil Corporation at Paripally. The car was owned by Nixon’s father Mathew Alexander, and Nixon was at the wheel.
The driver of the bullet tanker, Raman, a native of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, suffered minor injuries. He told the police that the accident occurred when the car was overtaking another vehicle.
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The car rammed and went under the trailer but did not hit the tanker. If it had hit the tanker, it could have led to a gas leak.
In the impact of the accident, the bodies of the six students were mutilated. They were identified by the clothes they wore. The car was mangled, and had to be axed open to take out the students.
The police said all the six were dead when they were taken out of the car. Three bodies were taken to the mortuary of a private hospital near Chathannur and the remaining to the mortuary of another private hospital at Kottiyam. By 11 a.m., the bodies were taken to the district hospital here and after the autopsies, handed over to relatives.
All the bodies were kept for some time on the TKM engineering college premises.