Four friends killed in car crash in Karnataka's Chikkaballapura

Chikkaballapura, July 1 (IANS) At least four people were killed and four others injured in a road accident reported from Chikkaballapura district in Karnataka on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on the state highway near Makali, close to Doddaballapur town. The deceased have been identified as Kalappa, Purushottama, Narayanappa, and Eshwarappa -- all residents of Karenahalli in Doddaballapur.

The injured were shifted to a hospital, and according to police, the condition of some of them is critical.

Preliminary investigation suggested that while attempting to overtake a truck, the driver encountered an RTC bus approaching from the opposite direction. In an attempt to avoid a head-on collision with the bus and the truck, the driver lost control of the car.

Police said a total of eight people -- all friends -- were travelling in the car to visit the Bheemeshwara Hill temple in Manchenahalli. The vehicle overturned during the failed overtaking manoeuvre.

The impact of the accident was severe, with the bodies of the deceased thrown across the road. The car was completely damaged in the incident.

On June 30, in a tragic road accident on National Highway-75 near the Kunigal bypass in Karnataka's Tumakuru district, four members of the same family lost their lives after their car collided with a speeding canter truck. The deceased were identified as residents of Mattikere village in Magadi taluk -- Seebe Gowda, his wife Shobha, and their children Dumbishree and Bhanukiran Gowda.

The accident occurred while the family was on their way to drop off their son, a Class 8 student, at his school hostel. The family had returned to Magadi on Sunday for the holiday and were travelling together after dinner to drop the boy back at the hostel. As they reached the Kunigal bypass, a speeding canter truck coming from the wrong side on a one-way road rammed into their car. The impact of the head-on collision was so severe that all four passengers in the car died on the spot. The car was completely mangled in the crash.

The family had first dropped off their elder daughter, Varnashree, in Bengaluru, before proceeding towards the school to drop Bhanukiran. Seebe Gowda was driving the car himself at the time of the accident, accompanied by his wife, daughter, and son.

--IANS

mka/dpb