THRISSUR: The accused pleaded guilty in the incident where five people lost their lives after their lorry ran over the people sleeping on the roadside. Alex, the lorry's cleaner, and Jose, the driver, pleaded guilty. Alex's statement is that he and the driver drank continuously throughout the journey and dozed off under the influence of alcohol.

Alex in his statement said, 'In an inebriated condition, my eyes closed for twenty seconds and when I felt the lorry hitting something, veered the vehicle. Heard screams then and tried to escape. Loaded the lorry with timber and left at 5 pm on Monday. Bought liquor from Mahe. Drank during the journey. By the time we reached Ponnani, Jose completely lost consciousness. I drove the vehicle then.'

The court remanded the two. The remand report said the accident was caused in an intoxicated condition. The police have registered a case of deliberate homicide against the two.

Five including two children died in the accident that happened Tuesday early morning. The dead are Kaliyappan (50), his wife Nagamma (39), son Vijay's wife Rajeshwari (20), son Vishwa (one year old), and their cousin Ramesh and Chitra's daughter Jeeva (4), all residents of Chemmanamthod Colony, Meenkara Dam, Palakkad. Devachandran (31), Devachandran's wife Jhansi (29), daughter Shivani (5), and Devachandran's brother Vijay, who were sleeping with them, are in Thrissur Medical College.