By Mukesh 
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).
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.