Two youngsters were killed in a road accident in Ernakulam after their two-wheeler rammed a pillar of the Kochi Metro Rail. The deceased have been identified as Vishal and Sumesh from Elamkulam. The incident happened in the wee hours of Thursday near Elamkulam.
According to the police, they youngsters were speeding when the rider lost control of the bike and rammed the pillar. Their bodies will be handed over to their families after the postmortem.
The Elamkulam curve is reportedly accident prone as the metro pillars numbered 825 and 824 are not clearly visible for drivers at night. In the last seven months, six accidents have been reported from the spot. Installations of reflectors and warning boards are a long-term demand by the locals there. While in some places, warning boards have been placed, in others it’s missing.
Similar incidents had taken place ever since the pillars were constructed. Those travelling on two-wheelers and four-wheelers have been killed after hitting the pillars of the metro. Most of the accidents happen at night when the pillars are not clearly visible.
A similar accident took place in January when two youths riding on a two-wheeler crashed into a pillar. The victims Muhammad Aslam and Muhammad Muhasin from Mattancherry died near Palarivattom. Like Thursday’s incident, here to the rider lost control of the bike due to break failure and rammed the pillar. The duo was traveling towards Aluva from Mattancherry.
Another youth was also killed in the same spot in January. An autorickshaw driver was killed in an accident at the same place.
In 2018, a 25-year-old bike rider was killed after he crashed his bike into the metro pillar near Pathadipalam.
In 2017, three people were killed after the car they were traveling in rammed one of the pillars. This accident took place in Mutton near Aluva. The vehicle first hit the pillar then ran onto the median and later overturned.