Unaware, he waits for his son's betrothal

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 10. Unaware that he has lost his family and many relatives in Friday night's landslip at Amboori, the lone survivor of the ghastly tragedy, Mr. C.D. Thomas, lies in ward 18 of the Medical College Hospital here. He often murmurs to the bystanders that he wants to return home immediately to attend his son's betrothal.

At the time of the landslip, Mr. Thomas' Chirakkathottiyil residence at Pachamukku was filled with his relatives from Kanjirapally, Pala, Erumeli and Alappuzha. His relatives had come to attend the betrothal of Mr. Thomas' son, Binu Thomas, which was scheduled to be held at 11-30 a.m. at the St. George Ferona Church.

In the landslip, Mr. Thomas, a leading rubber dealer in Amboori, lost his wife Leelamma, elder daughter Beena, son-in-law Romeo, Beena's kids, Felix and Leon, and his son Binu.

The tragedy struck the family just a few months after the death of Mr. Thomas' younger daughter, Bijimol, a nursing student.

Unaware of the tragedy, the 52-year-old Mr. Thomas readily agreed to narrate the events on Friday night to The Hindu, from his bed at the Medical College Hospital where he has been admitted.

``There was a heavy downpour accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning. We were inside the house, there was no electricity and it was totally dark. Ten relatives from Kanjirapuzha and three from Alappuzha had come to attend my son's betrothal which was scheduled for today. My daughter and son-in-law had come from Pune yesterday.''

``All of us were having dinner. My brother, C.D. Sebastian, (an Excise Circle Inspector attached to Neyattinkara who died on account of injuries sustained during the landslip) and I had finished our dinner and we were having fruits when we heard a deafening sound like a bomb explosion.''

``All of a sudden, the house collapsed. One of the doors fell on my head and I was trapped below my waist under a concrete slab. I cannot recall anything after that and suddenly I was lying in a hospital at Amboori,'' he said.

Mr. Thomas was rescued from the debris of his house and rushed to the Amboori hospital and later shifted to the Medical College Hospital by 4 a.m. today. The condition of Mr. Thomas, who was bruised all over and had badly injured his head and left knee, is stated to be ``out of danger''. ``I cannot lift my right hand and has severe pain below the waist and in the legs,'' he said.

Mr. Thomas said he had been staying in the locality for 30 years and had not witnessed any landslips. ``I constructed my house 15 years ago and got it modified recently. The front rooms and the kitchen have a concrete roof and the rest is tiled. I have 16.5 cents of land adjoining the house which has five rooms,'' he says unaware of the fact that his house has been totally wiped out.

It is Mr. Satheesh, a resident of Amboori and secretary of the Cooperative Bank, Karikuzhi, and Mr. M. Narayanan, a local resident, along with some local people who are taking care of him at the hospital. Some relatives who arrived in the morning did not give any inkling of the tragedy to Mr. Thomas.

``A number of local people depended on Mr. Thomas since he was a rubber dealer and he had invited a lot of people for the betrothal of Binu with a local girl, Ms. Jina. He had insisted that no dowry should be given and that the girl should be from a poor family,'' says Mr. Satheesh who rushed to the spot on hearing the chiming of the church bells.

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