Bangalore:
Eight persons, including seven of an extended family in Raghavendra Colony of Chamarajpet, were killed when the Tempo Traveller in which they were travelling to Hosur from Madurai, rammed into an overloaded tipper lorry at Gajendranagar, 5 km from the Paramathi police station in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district.
Six others were seriously injured and admitted to CM Hospital in Namakkal. The condition of 12-year-old Navya is said to be critical.
The lorry was travelling from Karur to Salem, police said. The mishap happened about 270 km from Bangalore. "The mishap occurred at midnight when the Tempo Traveller rammed into the slow moving lorry, overloaded with limestone, from behind. The driver Navaneethan, 38, of Madurai and seven passengers died in the mishap," Paramathi police told DNA over phone.
Tulasi, a close relative of the deceased, said her brother VS Srinivas, 42, sisters-in-law Suma, 42, and Rohini, 38, sister VS Manjula, 40, brothers-in-law Shashi Bhushan, 66, and Shankar Rao, 50, were killed besides Manjunath, 38, son-in-law of Bhushan.
"The driver and four passengers sitting in the front seat died instantly, while three of the grievously injured died en route to a hospital," police sources said.
The group was returning to Bangalore after a pilgrimage to Rameswaram, Kanyakumari and Madurai. They had initially planned to take a train from Madurai, but hired the tempo since they could not get accommodation in it. The Paramathi police said they had registered a case and were investigating. "We have not made any arrests as the Tempo Traveller driver was the main accused and he died in the mishap," the sources added.
The deceased persons had been living in separate houses on 6th Cross in Raghavendra Colony and 5th Main, 5th Cross in Chamarajpet.
Tulasi said that VS Krishna Rao, a proprietor of Vybhav Travels in Chamarajpet, and his relative decided to visit temples in Tamil Nadu and left the city on Friday night by train. Manohar, another relative, said the train from Madurai was overcrowded, and the group decided to hire a vehicle to the city.
Just before her death, one of the victims, Rohini, had called Shashi Bhushan's son Anil Kumar around 10 pm on Sunday and requested him to pick up the group from Hosur since the tempo lacked inter-state permit.
Kumar went to sleep early on Sunday night so that he could go to Hosur in the morning.
However, his sister, Ashwini, rang him up around 1.30 am and informed him of the accident. She suffered injuries in the accident. Kumar rushed to Tamil Nadu along with a few relatives.
Krishna Rao, his daughter Amritha, sister Girija, Shashi Bhushan's daughter Ashwini, Vasundara and kids Snehasree and Rohini suffered injuries, besides Navya. "Krishna Rao lost his leg in the incident," another relative said.
Copyright restricted. Under license from
www.3dsyndication.com