Eight tourists from Kerala, primarily teachers from Pang Lower Primary School in Malappuram, were killed on Friday evening, April 17, 2026, when their van plunged into a gorge on the Valparai-Pollachi ghat road. The vehicle, a Tempo Traveller carrying approximately 13 to 16 passengers, was returning from a leisure trip when the driver reportedly lost control at the 13th hairpin bend.
Crash Details and Rescue Effort
Witnesses reported that the van veered off the road at the 13th bend, tumbled through dense terrain, and finally came to rest several hundred feet below near the 9th hairpin bend. Seven women and one man died on the spot. Emergency teams from the Kadambarai police and Fire Services worked through the difficult landscape to extricate survivors, five of whom were shifted to the Government Hospital in Pollachi in critical condition.
Safety and Legal Implications
The Pollachi-Valparai route is notorious for its 40 hairpin bends and steep gradients, which demand extreme technical precision. Authorities are now investigating whether the 21-year-old driver, Mohammed Fasith, faced mechanical failure or if passenger overloading contributed to the loss of control. This tragedy has reignited calls for stricter enforcement of hill-road protocols, including reinforced barriers and mandatory vehicle inspections for inter-state tourist transport under the Motor Vehicles Act.