Four people sustained serious injuries after the car they were travelling in lost control and plunged nearly 200 feet into the Periyar River near Thattakkanni on the Cheruthoni–Neriamangalam–Idukki Road on Thursday afternoon.

The accident occurred around noon while the victims, all natives of Paravur, were returning home from Thopramkudy in Idukki district. They had travelled to Thopramkudy for work at a church but decided to return due to heavy rain.

According to preliminary information, the car first veered off the road into a roadside drain. As the driver attempted to steer the vehicle back onto the road, he reportedly lost control, causing the car to plunge down the steep slope into the Periyar River. The vehicle was completely mangled in the crash.

Two of the injured are reported to be in critical condition. All four were initially rushed to a hospital in Kothamangalam, where they received first aid before being shifted to Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, for advanced treatment.

Personnel from the Karimannoor Police, assisted by local residents, carried out the rescue operation. The occupants were trapped inside the mangled vehicle and had to be rescued after rescuers cut open the car.

The rescue operation was led by Thattakkanni Station Circle Inspector P M Suresh Kumar, Sub-Inspector V B Babu, and police personnel Selvam Sebastian, Shashikumar and Rajesh K R.