Five people, including a nine-year-old, died in a road accident on Monday, April 29, in Kerala’s Kannur district. The accident occurred around 10.15 pm, when a car and a lorry, which carried gas cylinders collided.

The deceased were identified as Sudhakaran (52), a native of Bheemanadi in Kasaragod, his wife Ajitha (35), father-in-law Kozhummal Krishnan (65), Ajitha's nine-year-old nephew Akash and K N Padmakumar (59), a Kalichanadukkam native who was driving the car.

The family was travelling from Kozhikode to Kasaragod, after dropping their son in a hostel in Kozhikode. According to reports, the accident occurred when the car tried to overtake a national permit lorry that was moving ahead. While overtaking, the car hit the lorry and went to the opposite track of the road, where it collided with another lorry.

Four people died on the spot while the nine-year-old succumbed to injuries at Pariyaram Medical College. The drivers of the lorry have been taken into custody and questioned by the police. The mortal remains of the five deceased have been kept in the Pariyaram Medical College mortuary. The body will be handed over to the relatives after postmortem.