With the last surviving passenger of the Kannur crash succumbing to his injuries on Sunday, the Mattannur police are probing whether the driver's visibility was affected by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle that may not have dimmed its lights.

The accident occurred at around 11.15 pm on Saturday when a car bearing a Uttar Pradesh registration allegedly lost control due to overspeeding, veered off the road and crashed into a tree. Kannur native Shan Siraj, Kasaragod native Riswan, Andhra Pradesh native Harsh, and Param Chethri of Uttar Pradesh died in the crash. Adithya Krishnan, a native of Thrissur who was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kannur, succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning, taking the death toll to five.

While overspeeding has been identified as the primary cause of the accident, police are also investigating other factors that may have contributed to the crash. According to the Mattannur police, an oncoming vehicle may have approached without dimming its headlights, affecting the driver's visibility.

"We are exploring the possibility that a vehicle travelling from the opposite direction approached with high-beam headlights. This could have affected the driver's visibility and caused the car to veer off the road," police said.

Investigators have begun examining CCTV footage from the accident site to verify the possibility. However, they are yet to obtain visuals confirming the sequence of events. "There were several vehicles passing through the area at the time, making it difficult to identify the specific vehicle involved," the police said.

The five youths had studied together at the VSM Institute of Aerospace Engineering and Technology in Yelahanka, Bengaluru, and were travelling to attend the wedding of a friend's cousin.

The impact of the crash left the car mangled beyond recognition. Fire and Rescue Services personnel used hydraulic rescue equipment to cut open the front portion of the vehicle and extricate the two occupants trapped in the front seats.

Police had initially suspected that the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel, causing the car to veer off the road and crash into the tree. However, investigators are now examining other possible factors that may have contributed to the accident.