Nine teachers died as van plunges off Valparai cliff in T.N.

Nine members of a 12-member tourist group from Malappuram district in Kerala were killed when their van plunged off a hairpin bend on the ghat road at Valparai in Coimbatore district on Friday (April 17, 2026).

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 13 to hairpin bend 9 between 5.15 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. The ghat section of the Valparai-Pollachi Road has a total of 40 hairpin bends. Seven women and a 12-year-old boy were among the deceased.