Polling agent among five dead in Kerala during 2nd phase of Lok Sabha election

At least five elderly people, including a polling agent, collapsed and died in separate incidents amid polling for the Lok Sabha elections for all 20 constituencies in Kerala on Friday, officials said.
Prima facie the reason for collapse could be heat stroke or heat-related issue, but the exact cause could not be ascertained, officials said.
The deceased were identified as Chandran (68), a resident of Ottapalam in Palakkad district; Kumbottayil Kandan (73) from Vilayodi in the same district; AT Sidhique (63), a madrassa teacher from Tirur in Malappuram district; and Somarajan (82), a resident of Kakkazham in Alappuzha district.
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People aware of the matter said all of them experienced discomfort after casting their votes at respective booths and collapsed, leading to their deaths.
It is not clear if there were medical issues that led to their demise.
In a separate incident, Maliyekkal Anees (66), a polling agent of the LDF at a booth in Kuttichira, Kozhikode, also collapsed and died. Though he was rushed to a nearby government hospital, his life could not be saved.
A voter at Madakkathara in Thrissur district, on the condition of anonymity, said the slow voting process at some booths exposed those like him to the extreme heat conditions, leading to such incidents.
“The process was very slow in my booth. In the afternoon, when the heat is severe, they should quicken the process so that there’s less waiting time,” he said.
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Extreme heat condition remained prevalent in most parts of Kerala on Friday, accordance with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuance of yellow alert and heatwave warning in 12 districts. However, voters, especially the elderly and women, braved the heat and long queues to cast their votes in the election.
On Thursday, Kerala’s chief electoral officer Sanjay Kaul had said that all arrangements were in place to aid voters at polling booths in the backdrop of the heatwave warning.
“There will be separate queues for elderly people to reduce waiting time. Drinking water and first aid, including ORS packets, will be available at polling booths,” he said.
On Friday morning, the highest temperature of 41.2°C was recorded in Palakkad district.
“Maximum temperatures are very likely to exceed 95th percentile of climatological values at a few places in Kerala during April 26-30, 2024. Hot and humid weather is very likely over these districts except in hilly areas during April 26 to 30 due to high temperature and humidity,” IMD said in a bulletin on Friday.