Published Oct 26, 2023 | 5:27 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 26, 2023 | 5:29 PM
The accident involving the SUV and the parked tanker near Chitravathi temple in Chikkaballapura on Thursday morning
All 13 occupants, including a six-year-old boy, of an SUV from Andhra Pradesh were killed when the vehicle smashed into a stationary multi-axle tanker lorry on the Bengaluru-Hyderabad NH-44 near the Chitravathi Temple on the outskirts of Chikkaballapura town early on Thursday, 26 October.
The police said the SUV, a Tata Sumo, was speeding through the morning fog when it rear-ended the parked lorry between 7 am and 7.10 am, killing 12 instantly. One person died in the hospital.
A preliminary investigation held rash driving and low visibility responsible for the ghastly incident.
The SUV had left Gorantala in Andhra Pradesh’s Sri Sathya Sai district around 5.30 am and was heading towards Hongasandra in Bengaluru.
The lorry driver had stopped the vehicle to attend to nature’s call when the SUV smashed into it.
The deceased have been identified as SUV driver Narasimhappa (40) of Gorantala; Ganesh Munirathna (17), a student from Gorantala living with his uncle at Hongasandra in Bengaluru; Aruna (32) from Doddaballapura; salon worker Narasimhamurthy (37) of Bagepalli, residing at Kavalbyrasandra in Bengaluru; Ritvik (6) from Doddaballapura; Perimili Pawan Kumar (32) from Gorantala; garment factory worker Shanthamma (37), a resident of Hongasandra hailing from Gonipeta in Anantpur; Rajavardhan (15), a student from Penukonda; Venkataramana (51), a weaver from the Odissi Mandal in the Sri Sathya Sai district; Narayanappa (50), a daily-wage labourer also from the Odissi Mandal, and a couple — painter Bellala Venkatadri (32) and his wife Bellala Lakshmi (20), a garment factory worker.
Deceased Ganesh’s father Munirathna told South First that his son had come to visit him and his wife last week and left for Bengaluru from Gorantala around 5.30 am.
“He was heading towards Hongasandra, where his uncle and aunt lived, and we were informed that the vehicle in which he had gone had met with an accident in Chikkaballapura and he was no more,” he said.
Chikkaballapura Superintendent of Police (SP) DL Nagesh said a police team that reached the scene shifted a person to a nearby hospital, but he died while undergoing treatment.
“Preliminary inquiries revealed that there was negligence on the part of the Sumo driver. It is said that the SUV was speeding when it collided with a parked tanker lorry due to poor visibility,” Nagesh told South First.
“We have made the tanker driver, Palani, an accused in the case as he could have used some precautions like switching on the blinkers of his vehicle while he had parked it. The tanker driver had parked the heavy vehicle on the side of the road, but failed to switch on the hazard lights or parking lights,” the officer added.
The police have registered a case of accidental death due to criminal negligence against Narasmihappa and Palani.
Expressing grief over the accident, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh to the kin of the victims.
