Kasaragod struggles to cope with reality

KASARAGOD: There is hardly any part of this district which is not mourning those who died in the Air India Express plane crash in Mangalore on May 22.

Peoples shock, following the crash which killed at least 48 from the district alone, was replaced the next day by the need to reconcile with the reality of loss. The urgency of bringing home the remains of the deceased, many of them beyond recognition, and their funeral overshadowed any overt sense of grief that has engulfed the district.

Every part of the district has been hit by the tragedy. The bereaved families are scattered across the district from the coastal Kasaragod town to the eastern hill areas. Uppala, Arikkadi, Cheemeni, Udma, Koliyadukkam, Kanhangad, Bandadka, Kundamkuzhi, Poyinachi, Parappa, Thalankara and Neeleswaram are still to come out of grief. Uduma, Chemnad and Pallikkara, three panchayat contiguous to each other, have lost 12 persons in the accident.