Coimbatore, Apr 18 (TNT) : At least nine members of a 12-member tourist group from Kerala were killed after their van plunged into a deep gorge along the Valparai–Pollachi ghat road in Coimbatore district on Friday evening, police said.
The victims were from Malappuram district in Kerala, including five teachers from a government LP school in Palliparambu.
Seven women and a 12-year-old boy were among those killed.
Three critically injured passengers were initially treated at the Government Hospital in Pollachi and later shifted to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment.
The accident occurred between 5.15 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. near the 13th hairpin bend on the Valparai–Pollachi ghat stretch, which has about 40 such bends.
The vehicle reportedly plunged several hundred feet into the gorge.
President Droupadi Murmu expressed grief over the incident.
In a message on X, she said she was “deeply saddened by the loss of lives” and conveyed her condolences to the bereaved families, while praying for the speedy recovery of the injured.
TNT TS
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