In death of siblings, family endures back-to-back tragedies

Bodies of children to be laid to rest near their father's grave at Palayam Church in Attappadi

- SHYAM PV @Palakkad

IN A heart-wrenching turn of events, two young siblings who were badly burnt in the car explosion in Palakkad on Friday evening succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kochi on Saturday.

Emilina Mariam Martin, four, breathed her last at 2.15pm, while her six-year-old brother Alfred, who was on ventilator support, died shortly after, around 3pm. Their mother, Elsy, 40, and 10-year-old sister, Aleena Maria, continue to fight for survival in the burns ICU at the same hospital.

The tragedy unfolded on Friday around 5.30pm, after Elsy, a nurse at a private hospital in Palakkad, had returned home from her first day at work following a long hiatus.

Having endured immense personal loss over recent months—including the death of her husband Martin to cancer on May 12 and her own painful surgery just two weeks later—Elsy was finally beginning to find some peace. Her return to work marked a small but hopeful step in the healing process.