It was a minibus with twelve travelling to have a dream holiday at the Eurostar Disneyland. The Wipro employees had hired the van belonging to an Indian in UK to go for a leisure trip from Nottingham to London to celebrate a three day holiday weekend.
But the holiday ended in tragedy, killing eight, as the minibus was flattened in a crash with two delivery trucks on the M1 at Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.
Five people from Tamil Nadu and two from Kerala were among eight Indians killed in a horrific accident in Nottingham, UK on Sunday.
The crash involved a mini bus and two heavy goods vehicles, that were all travelling in the same direction on a highway.
While three of the victims from Tamil Nadu were from Kancheepuram, two were from Chennai.
“It's with deep regret that we confirm the passing away of three of our colleagues, Karthikeyan Ramasubramanian Pugalur, Rishi Rajeev Kumar, and Vivek Bhaskaran in a tragic road accident in the UK. 'Another colleague, Mano Ranjan Panneerselvam was critically injured in the accident and we are praying for his speedy recovery,” Ramesh Phillips, head of operations support-UKEurope, Wipro Ltd said.
The Keralites have been identified as Cyriac Joseph aka Benny, 51, and Rishi Rajeev 28 who is an engineer with Wipro. Rishi Rajeev was working in the Bengaluru unit of Wipro and had gone to UK eight months ago. He is survived by his mother Usha Devi and two siblings.
Rishi Rajeev
Cyriac Joseph belongs to Pala in Kottayam while Rishi Rajeev is a native of Chingavanam. Cyriac Joseph, who owned the van, was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Cyriac Joseph known as Benny had been living in Nottingham for 16 years and was running a taxi business called ABC tours for four years. His wife is working as a nurse in Nottingham and his children are students there, the report says.
Benny was expected to visit his home in Pala in September.
Cyriac Joseph
His wife and children returned to UK after a vacation in Pala a few days ago. Benny has also served as Nottingham Malayali Association president.
His friend Manu told the Daily Mail, “He started the business around four years ago. He mostly made airport trips, pick-ups and that sort of thing. He set off from home at 1am. The pick-up was very close to where he lived, but he did not know the group he was taking. He was taking them to the Euro tunnel, so it was going to be quite a long journey, maybe three and a half hours. None of his friends or family was in the minibus. It was just clients.”
The victims from Tamil Nadu included 34-year-old Wipro engineer Mano Ranjan's parents, Tamil Mani, 50, and her husband Arutchelvam, 56. Mano Ranjan had been travelling with his parents, uncle, aunt and wife.
Their son Dr Arun Arachelvan told Dailymail, 'They told me my parents and other relatives were in an accident and that my parents died on the spot. My uncle succumbed to his injuries while on the way to hospital. I have been told that my aunt Valli and sister-in-law are fine but traumatised. My cousin Manoranjan is still critical. I have applied for a visa but it will take 48-50 hours. I am requesting that the British and Indian High Commission understand the sensitivity of the case and expedite the visa process.”
According to Irish Times, the drivers of the two trucks, Ryszard Masierak and David Wagstaf were arrested and charged with various counts for causing death by dangerous driving.
Masierak was also charged with eight more counts of causing death by careless driving while over the drink-drive limit.