Hundreds turn up at Pang school to bid farewell to accident victims

Kochi: Hundreds gathered on Pang govt higher secondary school premises in Malappuram on Saturday to bid tearful adieu to those who died in the accident at Valparai-Pollachi ghat road on Friday.Pang LP School lost five teachers, a driver and a member of the cooking staff in the tragedy while UP School lost one teacher.The bodies of eight out of the nine deceased were laid to rest in Malappuram. The funeral ceremonies were completed by noon at various locations. Seven people were laid to rest on three different mosque premises. The burial of teacher Majeed (43) and his wife Rukiya (39) took place at Pang Mattath juma masjid while the burials of teachers Ramla (52) and Shakeela (37) and cook Sajitha (45) were held at Pang Valiya Jumaat Mosque. The burial of teacher Suhara (43) and her son Hisham (12) was conducted at East Pang juma masjid. The funeral of teacher Asha (41) was held at her ancestral home in Kolathur. The cremation of headmistress Pulamanthole Ajitha (54) will be held at Shoranur Santhitheeram. Children from Pang LP School came in uniform to pay last respects to the teachers. Around 9am, ambulances from Tamil Nadu Health Service carrying the bodies of the nine deceased crossed the school gate. Education minister V Sivankutty, Panakkad Sadikali Thangal, P K Kunhalikutty, Manjalamkuzhi Ali MLA and several other dignitaries were present to offer their condolences.Sivankutty mentioned all teachers except one from a particular school passed away. He said the govt would take necessary steps to appoint teachers and staff to care for the children before the school reopens. He noted that the children are emotionally distressed due to the incident and would be provided with support, including counselling. He added that teachers would receive appropriate treatment and, if necessary, would be treated at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital or Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.The govt has also announced that all possible assistance from chief minister's distress relief fund would be provided to the victims. Sivankutty stated that the chief minister has been informed about the developments and a comprehensive inquiry would be conducted. Ali emphasised the immediate need for teachers at the school and counselling for students.The postmortem of all nine victims, which began at the Pollachi Hospital, was completed at 4pm. The ambulances carrying the bodies left Pollachi together for Malappuram around 6.30am. A special order was issued to complete the postmortem at night itself.