The Nilgiris district police on Wednesday evening found the bodies of five tourists from Chennai, more than two days after the car in which they were travelling plunged off the Kalhatti Ghat Road. The deceased were part of a seven-member group of friends that had gone on a tour to the hill station. The other two from the group have been rescued and are receiving treatment at different hospitals.

The police identified the deceased as Ravi Verma, Jeyakumar, Ibrahim, Amarnath and Jude Anto Kevin, all from Chennai. The two men rescued by the police and the forest department were identified as Ram Rajesh and Arun, also from Chennai. Though they were badly injured, the duo managed to pull on without food for over 48 hours. They were initially taken to the Government Hospital in Ooty and later shifted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.

The seven tourists had come to the Nilgiris on September 30 and were staying in a hotel at Fern Hill. They reportedly left for the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) the next day at around 8 a.m. and were not heard from since.