Closest of friends in life — and in death

THEY were closest of friends—so much so that even death couldn't separate them. Irfana Sherin P A, Ridha Fathima, Nidha Fathima K M and Aysha A S, all students of Class VIII at Karimba Government HSS, were snatched away by fate's cruel hands when a truck transporting cement careened out of control, toppled, and fell over them.

- ANU KURUVILLA @Palakkad

"They were never apart," says Haseena Rafeek, a member of the Karimba grama panchayat and a member of Ridha's family. "Ridha is the daughter of my husband's cousin. This was the route that the children always took to get back home," she added, sobbing uncontrollably. They were hardly a kilometre away from home. "The children were best friends who played, studied and ev