Family on tour for Eid, engineer living in Doha: The 5 Keralites killed in Kenya road mishap
A woman and her daughter on a tour as part of Eid celebrations, a woman and her toddler, and an engineer who had last visited Kerala six months ago – these were the five Keralites who were killed in Monday's road accident in Kenya.
They died after their bus fell into a ditch while on its way from Nakuru County to Nyahururu Thomson Falls in Laikipia County, 41 km south of Nyahururu Town in Kenya. Twenty-three others — including their family members — were also injured in the accident.
All five of the deceased had been residing in Qatar. The 23 injured people are currently being treated at a hospital in Nairobi.
In Palakkad's Mannur village, Riya Ann, 41, was travelling with her husband Joyal Joseph and their two minor children when the accident occurred. While Riya and her 8-year-old daughter Tyra were killed, Joyal and his 12-year-old son Travis suffered injuries.
O V Swaminathan, a friend of family, said that Joyal worked with a travel and tourism firm in Doha, while Riya was employed with an airline maintenance firm there. Joyal and Travis are stated to be stable and are currently undergoing treatment.
'They were planning to come home next month. The tour was part of Eid celebrations and according to their schedule, they were to return to Qatar on June 10. Riya's mother Shanthi had spoken to her daughter hours before the accident. They were returning to the hotel when the accident occurred,' he said.
It was only last month that Muhammed Haneefa, a chartered accountant in Doha, had been to Thrissur in connection with his father's treatment. Although Haneefa survived the crash and is currently being treated, his wife Jesna, 29 and their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Roohi Mehrin did not.
'The families of both Jesna and Muhammed have been settled in the Middle East for several years now,' Poornima Mohan, their neighbour in Thrissur, says.
Geetha Shoji Isaac, 57, was in Kenya with husband Shoji and son Abel.
From Cherukole near Mavelikkara in Alappuzha, the couple were engineers living in Doha for three decades and had visited Kerala only six months ago.
'Their son, Abel Shoji Isaac is also an engineer and is working in Doha. Another son Joel is a doctor in Kerala. After the tragedy, Shoji's brother Ajith, who was in UAE, rushed to Nairobi,' Shoji's cousin Boban says.
Arrangements are being made to send the bodies of the deceased back to Kerala.
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