Nine members of a 12-member excursion group from Pang in Kuruva panchayat in Malappuram district were killed when their van plunged off a cliff at Valparai in Tamil Nadu on Friday afternoon.
The remaining members of the group were admitted to hospitals with injuries. Three of the critically injured were shifted from Pollachi to a hospital in Coimbatore for advanced treatment. The van reportedly fell from hairpin bend number 13 and tumbled down to hairpin bend number 9. Seven of the deceased were women.
Most of the passengers in the van were teachers of Government Lower Primary School, Pang, and their family members. A police team from Palakkad led by Chittur Dy.SP Kutty Krishnan identified the victims as Ajita, 54; Ramla, 52; Zuhara, 43; Asha, 41; Majeed, 43; Sajita, 45; Shakeela, 37; Rukhiya, 39; and Hisham, 12. Mohammed Fasith, 21, who drove the van, was among the three admitted to a hospital at Coimbatore with serious injuries. The other injured are Shahadin, 11; and Masneen, 10.
The group had left Pang in the early hours of Friday and visited several tourist destinations, including Athirappilly, Vazhachal and Malakkappara, before reaching Valparai. The accident occurred while they were returning from Valparai.
