A 10-year-old girl died and several others were injured on Friday when their minibus went off the road and turned turtle at Erumely area of Kottayam district in Kerala while enroute to Sabar🍒imala from Chཧennai for the ongoing annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage.
An officer of Erumely police station said the accident oc♔curred between 3-3.30 pm when 🦄the vehicle was trying to navigate a treacherous hairpin curve there which is prone to accidents.
&q🧸uot;A lot of accidents take place here as the road goes steep downhill righ💎t after the hairpin curve," she said.
The officer said it was believed that mechanical failure of the minibus 🔜was the cause for the🐻 accident, but it was not confirmed.
There were 20 pilgrims, including five children, and the driver in the bus, she said, adding that 12 people were admitted to the nearby medical college f♐or treatment. "No one else suffered any major injuries," she said.
Earlier on November 19, as many as 43 people including a b🌜oy suffered injuries after a bus carrying Sabarimala pilgrims from Andhra Praꦗdesh met with an accident and overturned near Laha in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district.
The annual two-month lo༒💝ng pilgrimage season began on November 17 and the 41-day Mandala puja festival at the famed Lord Ayyappa Swamy shrine will conclude on December 27.
Thereafter, the temple will be opened again on December 30 for the Makaravilakku pilgrimage, which will end on January 14, 20ꦺ23. The shrine will be closed on January 20, 20𓆉23 concluding the pilgrimage season.
-With PTI Input
