The car that plunged into a gorge on Manjoor - Mulli road in Karamadai forest range area in Coimbatore district on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.
Three persons died after the car they travelled in plunged into a gorge of over 300 feet on Manjoor–Mulli–Karamadai Road along the Tamil Nadu – Kerala border on Sunday (August 9, 2026).L. Rajkannan (54), T.D. Bojan (70) and C. Radhika (55), all residents of Mathampalayam near Karamadai, died in the accident. The police said that the accident took place when the trio, originally hailing from Bengalmattam in Kundah taluk in the Nilgiris district, were returning from Yedakadu (also in the Nilgiris) to Mathampalayam. Rajkannan drove the car and it met with an accident at a ghat section, around five km off the Tamil Nadu Police Department check post at Mulli. The police received information about the accident from locals who spotted the deceased and the car in the forest area falling under the limits of the Karamadai range around 3 p.m.Police personnel from Pilloor Dam and Karamadai stations of the Coimbatore District Police and a team from Pudur police station from the bordering Palakkad district rushed to the spot. Frontline staff of the Forest Department from Karamadai range also reached the spot. The three persons were found to have thrown out of the car in the impact. The bodies were found close to River Kundha, close to Tamil Nadu – Kerala border. The bodies were carried across the river using makeshift stretchers and taken to the nearest road on the Kerala side. Their bodies were shifted to the Government Hospital, Mettupalayam, for post-mortem examination.The narrow Manjoor–Mulli–Karamadai ghat road via Geddai, passing through dense forests, is considered a challenging route for motorists due to the steep terrain and sharp curves. The frequency of vehicles on the forest road is very minimal due to travel restrictions. This is one of the three roads connecting Coimbatore and the Nilgiris. The widely used routes are Mettupalayam–Udhagamandalam Road via Coonoor and Mettupalayam–Kotagiri Road.“There is little chance for any other motorist to have witnessed the accident due to minimal frequency of vehicles,” said a police officer. Published - August 09, 2026 09:30 pm IST
