more-in Five youngsters died and two suffered serious injuries when a car they were travelling in collided head on with a tourist bus near Perumbavoor in the wee hours of Thursday. The accident took place at 2 a.m. when the five-seater car, which was on its way to the Cochin International Airport from Elappara in Idukki, hit the bus near Kareekode on MC Road at a sharp, accident-prone curve. The youths were proceeding to see off Jerin, who was employed in the Middle East. The spot had witnessed an accident in the middle of the night last Saturday when a luxury bus operated by the KSRTC had crashed into a house. The deceased were identified as Jerin, 22; Unni, 20; Vijayan, 28; Kiran, 21, and Jineesh, 21, all natives of Elappara. The condition of Sujith, and Jibin, brother of Jerin, who have been admitted to a private hospital in Perumbavoor town, remains critical. A few passengers in the bus suffered minor injuries in the impact of the collision. CCTV footage obtained from the area showed the car veering off its lane and ramming the bus. People, who were present at the site, and the police pulled out the youths from the car by cutting open its mangled remains. Preliminary investigations attributed the collision to the sharp curve, low visibility due to heavy rain and the possibility of overspeeding by both the vehicles. The Andhra Pradesh-registered bus was carrying pilgrims and was proceeding behind a lorry. The Perumbavoor police have registered a case under Section 304-A of the IPC (causing death by a negligent act) against the bus driver. But the police said a preliminary probe had suggested that the accident happened because the car was on the wrong lane. Five of the youths died on the spot, while the other two, including one whose ear was severed, were admitted to hospital. The police are also probing whether packing seven persons into a five-seater car had caused its driver to lose control at the curve. The discovery of a liquor bottle from the car too is being probed. The youths were part of a group of persons in five cars from Idukki proceeding to CIAL to see off three youths to Oman. The other two, who were in the other cars, flew to Oman.

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