COIMBATORE/MALAPPURAM: Nine persons, including six teachers and a staffer of two government schools in Malappuram, died and four others were injured after a van they were travelling in veered off the road and plunged around 800ft while navigating the 13th hairpin bend on the Valparai-Pollachi Ghat Road in Coimbatore district on Friday evening.
The vehicle tumbled down four hairpin sections of the road before coming to a halt at the ninth hairpin bend. Police said the group — which was on a vacation tour — comprised staff members of the Pang-Palliparamba Government LPS and UP school at Kuruva in Malappuram and their relatives.
The deceased are school headmistress Ajitha, 54, a resident of Paloor; teachers Ramla, 52, Suhara, 43, Majeed, 43, — all from Pang — and Asha, 41, from Kolathur; Majeed’s wife Ruqiya, 39, school cook Sajitha, 45, Hisham, 12, and Shakeela, 37, teacher of UP school. According to sources, Noushad, 39, Sahadeen, 11, Masneen, 10, and and van driver Mohammed Fasith, 21, were the four injured.
Police said preliminary reports suggest the driver lost control while negotiating the sharp descent at the 13th hairpin bend. However, further investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the accident was under way, they said.
Three injured shifted to Coimbatore MCH
According to a member of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association, the 13-member group began its trip on Friday morning by visiting the Athirappilly waterfalls in Thrissur and then proceeded to Valparai. After sightseeing in Valparai, they were heading towards Pollachi to return to Kerala when the accident occurred between 5.15pm and 5.30pm.
Onlookers alerted the police and tried to rescue those trapped in the vehicle. Fire and rescue services personnel and police officers from Valparai and Pollachi reached the spot and rushed the injured persons to the Government District Headquarters Hospital in Pollachi in ambulances. On Friday night, three of them, including Sahadeen, were shifted to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital and one to Pollachi Government Hospital. The bodies were shifted to Pollachi GH for a postmortem, according to officials.
The scenic stretch of the Valparai-Pollachi Ghat Road, known for its challenging terrain with 40 sharp hairpin bends has witnessed several accidents in the past, especially during summer, when many tourists visit the hill station. Police have appealed to motorists to exercise extreme caution when navigating the Ghat section, particularly while descending.
Coimbatore Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar, along with officials from the district administration, visited Pollachi GH to check on the injured. “Police from Malappuram and Palakkad have collected details from officials in Coimbatore. A team will be sent to Coimbatore and Pollachi,” Kerala State Police Chief Ravada A Chandrasekhar told reporters.
Another member of the school’s PTA said, “It was not a tour organised by the school. Teachers and staff went on the trip as it was the vacation period. Some of them had posted photos as WhatsApp status,” the PTA member said. Kerala Electricity Minister K Krishnan Kutty visited Pollachi Government Hospital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.