In what can be termed as a shocking bit of newover 20 persons comprising key administrative officials, police personnel, and COVID warriors in Malappuram involved in rescue operations following the Kozhikode plane crash tested positive for COVID-19. . This reportedly includes the Malappuram district collector K Gopalakrishnan, sub-collector, assistant collector and the district police chief. Since the completion of the rescue operations, they were under observation.These officers had interacted with several ministers and top officials in the wake of the Air India Express B-737 flight crash at Karipur.
The Dubai-Kozhikode Air India Express flight (IX-1344), which was part of the Vande Bharat mission, with 190 people on board, overshoot the runway amid heavy rain, plunged deep down 35 ft. into the valley below and broke in two pieces while landing at Karipur International Airport in Kerala’s Kozhikode district on August 7. Eighteen people including two pilots died in the plane crash.However, the flight did not catch fire and thus a greater disaster was averted. Apart from the passengers, the pilot-in-command Captain Deepak V Sathe and his co-pilot Captain Akhilesh Kumar were killed in the tragic air accident. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan also announced Rs.10 lakh compensation to the kin of those who lost their lives besides bearing the medical expenses of the injured.