Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 25: Nine women, were reportedly killed while three others critically injured after a jeep carrying 12 people fell into a 30-metre deep gorge near Mananthavady in Kerala’s Wayanad district on Friday.
The passengers on the ill-fated jeep are women labourers working in a tea estate and were returning back to their home.
State Forest Minister A.K.Saseendran told the media that as per the directions of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, he is on his way to the Mananthavady hospital where the injured persons are receiving treatment. The bodies of the deceased women labourers are also kept in the same hospital.
The incident occurred at around 3.30 p.m. and rescue operations began quickly amid challenges due to the rocky terrain.
The Union Home Minister has alerted the states of the country in the wake of the Indo-Pak War. The Telangana government and police, which were immediately alerted, took preemptive measures. Security has been tightened in Hyderabad.
Thirty-two airports across northern and western parts of the country, including Srinagar and Amritsar, have been closed for civilian flight operations till May 15, according to the civil aviation regulator.
In view of the ongoing high alert across India and intensified security arrangements in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, the city police have issued a ban on bursting firecrackers or fireworks in public spaces, particularly near military cantonment areas.
India responded strongly to Pakistan’s repeated drone and missile attacks and hit at least eight military targets inside Pakistan on Friday night with precision, thereby causing significant damage, the Centre told the media, as part of a special briefing on ‘Operation Sindoor’.