IDUKKI: Four persons, including a one-year-old child, died and 11 others were injured when a van carrying a group of tourists from Tamil Nadu fell into a gorge along the Mankulam- Anakkulam road near Adimali on Tuesday.
The incident occurred at the Pemaram curve on the stretch around 4.30pm when the tourists were heading to Anakkulam. According to local residents, the driver lost control of the vehicle while negotiating the curve at Pemaram and it plunged 100ft into a gorge on the side of the road.
The deceased have been identified as Gunasekharan, 70, of Chinnamannoor in Tamil Nadu; Abhinash Moorthy, 30, of Theni, his one-year-old son Thanvik, and P K Sethu, 34, a resident of Erode.
Apart from the driver, there were a total of 14 tourists — dealers of a private cooking range company in TN and their family members — in the vehicle.
Following the accident, local residents and passengers of other vehicles conducted the rescue operations. All the passengers were taken out of the van after nearly half-an-hour-long rescue operation. The injured were then rushed to the Taluk Hospital in Adimali.
Local residents said the vehicle that fell into the gorge got stuck between a rock and a tree, preventing further fall. Police sources said the team had set off from Tamil Nadu for a leisure trip two days ago. After staying in a private resort in Munnar, they were on their way to Anakkulam for sightseeing when the accident happened.
According to local residents, the spot is an accident-prone area. “The steep road and hairpin bends make the drive difficult on the stretch for tourists -- especially those from other districts and states,” Sunny Joseph, a resident said. The injured, including the van driver, have been admitted to the private hospitals in Adimali and Thodupuzha.