11 Sabarimala pilgrims died at Kanamala

Eleven Sabarimala pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh were killed when the lorry in which they were proceeding to the temple overturned at Adivalavu in Kerala. The pilgrims hailed from Anasagaram village in Nandigama mandal of Krishna district. According to sources, 40 pilgrims from Anasagaram left for Sabarimala on January 6 on a lorry. There was slight rainfall in the area when the tragedy struck near Kananmala in Pathanamthitta, the police said.The injured pilgrims were admitted to a hospital in Kanjirapally and the condition of four of them is said to be critical.

The bodies of the 11 victims of the vehicle mishap at Kanamala, off Erumeli, were taken to Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday as other fellow Sabarimala pilgrims who survived the tragedy watched in numbed shock. After autopsy and embalming and completion of other formalities, the bodies were released from the Medical College Hospital here to those concerned by around 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Cabinet on Wednesday asked the Travancore Devaswom Board to give Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those who were killed in the lorry accident at Kanamala, near Erumeli, on Tuesday night. ``The Government has decided to give necessary instructions in this regard to the Devaswom Board,’’ Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan told reporters here after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The Cabinet also approved to sanction Rs 50 lakh for those who lost their shops, vehicles and other valuables in the Karunagappally oil tanker tragedy. This relief package will be in addition to the package announced by the oil companies, the Chief Minister said.