Five persons, including a DMK local leader, were killed and 15 injured when a jeep carrying activists returning from Tirunelveli after a party youth meet collided with a Sabarimala pilgrims' van on Monday.
The mishap took place at Moopakoil near here around 3 am, police said.
Four persons, including Thiagarajan (45), DMK local leader and president of Kadalangudi Panchayat, were killed on the spot, while another person died on way to hospital.
The other deceased were Sudhakar (25), Muthupandi (25), Parthasarathy (50) and Balu (35), they said.
While eight persons were admitted to the government hospital here, seven others were referred to the Medical College Hospital in Thanjavur.
The Kerala-bound van carried 13 Ayyappa devotees, while the jeep from Tirunelveli had seven DMK workers onboard. The casualties included from both the vehicles, police said.