Nine students of a primary school were killed and 15 critically injured when a drowsy driver ploughed his mini-van through students who were returning after the day’s classes in north Kerala’s Kannur district on Thursday evening. Of the victims, eight were girls. A couple has lost all their three children in the accident.According to eyewitnesses, the students of Sri Narayana L P School in Padayamkodu near Erikkur, were walking along the road when the van hit them. They said the speeding vehicle veered to the wrong side before running over the students, who were moving in a queue. The vehicle dragged the children for more than 150 metres, before it halted. Three of them died on the spot.As the accident occurred in an uninhabited region, the delay in rushing medical aid also contributed to the toll. Van driver Abdul Kabeer, a native of Malappuram, was taken into police custody. Though the police have not revealed the exact cause of accident, preliminary reports said the driver seemed to have dozed off while driving. The locals alleged that the driver was in an inebriated condition, but the police have prima facie ruled out the possibility.
