'Blood on face, mistook it for earthquake'; Jiji's 'great escape' from Malappuram road collapse incident

KOZHIKODE: “Witnessing the shape of the road, I mistook it for an earthquake. Nothing else came to my mind at that point.” These are the words of Jiji Raghu, who was driving a WagonR car on the service road when the six-lane national highway under construction in the Kooriyad section collapsed.

“The road was cracking and coming towards us. I was terribly scared. My son who was beside me looked stunned. I stopped the car and tried to reverse but to no avail. Through the rearview mirror, I saw the passengers from the car behind us running after getting out” said Jiji.

Jiji was on her way to Ernakulam from Kozhikode after celebrating her son’s good grades in the CBSE class 10 exams. Jiji along with her son was near Kooriyad on the service road when the unexpected and frightening accident occurred.

While talking with Kerala Kaumudi online, Jiji opened up about the thoughts that came ringing her mind at the time of the incident. Jiji had initially felt like a return to life impossible and it now super relieved.

Jiji Raghu:

“The unexpected accident happened while I was driving on the service road. I saw stones falling on top of the car ahead of us. With this, I put the car to a halt and tried to reverse. It was at this moment I saw the passengers in the car behind us getting out and scampering away. A reverse seemed impossible but then I realized the road cracking up and the right tyre of my car slowly plunging into the depth. At that time, only a few cars were on the road. The people nearby were telling us to get out and escape.

The car was running in air condition and the music too was being played. This obstructed us from the noises outside. So we had no idea what was happening. Seeing the structure of the road at that time, we first thought it was an earthquake. The road was cracking and coming towards us.

My son started shrieking at the sight. The car travelling ahead of us was destroyed after a huge boulder fell on it. The people inside were injured and I even saw a kid’s face bathed in blood. The sight left me in tears while my son started crying.

My son turned inconsolable and demanded that he wanted to reach Ernakulam and meet his father. Hearing the cries, the police reached the spot and helped us out. They even pulled the right wheel from the depths with bare hands. The locals too helped us greatly.

A beautiful road is currently being built from Kasaragod to Kanyakumari. How soothing it is to travel on that road. It should be built in a way that would be useful to the people, not the other way around.”