September 5: Eight people, most of them believed to be engineering students from Tamil Nadu, were killed when their car crashed into the rear of a parked goods lorry on National Highway 66 in Kerala’s Thrissur district late Friday night.
The accident occurred around 11.40 pm at Panambikkunnu in Kaipamangalam, where highway construction work is under way. According to police, the Tamil Nadu-registered car was travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur when it rammed into the rear of the lorry, which had reportedly been parked near a diversion on the same side of the highway.
The collision was so severe that the car was crushed, trapping its occupants inside. Local residents, police and fire and rescue personnel reached the spot and cut through the wreckage to recover the victims.
Most reports said all eight occupants died at the scene, although one account reported that seven died on the spot and another succumbed to injuries after being taken to hospital. The bodies were shifted to the mortuary at Thrissur Government Medical College for post-mortem examination.
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Police have so far identified five of the deceased as Vishwa of Salem, Surya and Yuva Sanjith of Dindigul, and Santhosh and Prasanna of Madurai. They were reportedly students of PSNA College of Engineering and Technology in Dindigul and had travelled to Kerala on a trip. The institution is a long-established engineering college in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.
Efforts were continuing to establish the identities of the remaining three occupants, including the driver. Police said the families of those identified had been informed.
STORY | Eight killed as car rams into parked lorry in Keralam’s Thrissur
Eight people, believed to be students from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, have been killed in a tragic road accident in central Keralam’s Thrissur district, police said on Saturday.
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An inquest has been completed and an investigation is under way to establish the circumstances that led to the crash. A key focus is expected to be the manner in which the goods lorry was parked on the highway and whether adequate warning signs, barricades, lighting and other safety measures had been provided around the construction zone.
The accident has renewed concerns over safety on Kerala’s NH 66 expansion corridor, where several sections remain under construction and traffic is being routed through diversions. The Edappally–Moothakunnam section, for instance, remains under active widening work, with only 71% of construction reported complete as of July 31 and the project’s completion deadline revised to May 2027.
The safety concerns come days after Kerala’s Public Works Minister P K Basheer directed authorities to ensure proper barricades, warning boards and clearly visible night-time safety arrangements at road construction sites. He stressed that construction activity could not come at the expense of public safety.
The Kaipamangalam crash is now likely to bring renewed scrutiny of traffic-management arrangements at NH 66 construction sites, particularly the visibility of parked heavy vehicles and diversions at night.
