Eight T.N. engineering students killed as car rams parked lorry on NH 66 in Keralam’s Thrissur

Eight engineering students, all aged 20, were killed when the car in which they were travelling crashed into the rear of a goods lorry parked on National Highway 66 at Panampikkunnu, near Kaipamangalam, in Thrissur district of Keralam late on Friday (September 5, 2026) night.

The accident occurred at around 11.42 p.m. on a diversion stretch of the highway where construction work was under way. The Tamil Nadu-registered car was travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur direction when it slammed into the stationary lorry.

The impact was devastating. The car was crushed and wedged beneath the rear of the lorry, leaving rescuers struggling to even locate the vehicle at first.

“Only after the lorry was moved forward and pulled the car using a rope could we properly see the it,” local residents involved in the rescue operation said.

The eight occupants were students of PSNA College of Engineering and Technology in Dindigul. Seven died at the accident site, while one succumbed after being taken to hospital.

The deceased were identified as Prasanna R. (20), Viraganoor, Madurai; Joshua Hilson J. (20), Old Vilangudi, Madurai; Murali Krishnan M. (20), Vadipatti, Madurai; Yuva Sajith K. (20), Ottanchatram, Dindigul; Jeeva N. (20), V.T. Patti, Dindigul; G. Santhosh (20), Melur, Madurai; Surya I. (20), Adiyanuthu, Dindigul; and V. Viswa (20), Pudunallakondanpatti, Salem.

By morning, the mortuary complex at Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital had turned into a scene of unbearable grief as relatives of the eight young students arrived one after another. Families who had set out hoping against hope were confronted with the devastating reality of losing their sons and friends in a single night. The air was filled with sobs and stunned silence as relatives waited for the post-mortem procedures to be completed and the bodies to be handed over for the final journey home.

According to Raj Kumar, the brother of Jeeva, the friends had planned a one-day trip to celebrate Santhosh’s recent purchase of a car. However, they hired a rental vehicle for the journey.

The families of most of the students were reportedly unaware that they had gone on the trip.

The rescue operation that followed was long and traumatic. Local residents, Fire and Rescue Services personnel and police worked together to pull the students from the twisted wreckage. Firefighters had to cut open the vehicle to retrieve two of the victims.

Rescuers said the force of the collision had left the car almost completely destroyed. The scenes at the accident site were deeply distressing, with emergency workers and local residents confronted with the full scale of the tragedy.

Ambulance drivers who regularly respond to road accidents described the Kaipamangalam crash as one of the most difficult scenes they had encountered.

The bodies were shifted to Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital, where post-mortem examinations began at around 9 a.m. The bodies will be handed over to the families after the completion of the procedures.

Police have traced the owner of the vehicle. He reportedly told investigators that he had given the car to one of the students known to him after being approached for the vehicle, but was not informed about their destination.