Bhatkal: Six Die on Spot, Several Injured in Car-Bus Accident

Yahya Hallare
Daijiworld Media Network - Bhatkal

Bhatkal, Apr 27: In a major accident at Bhatkal here on Friday April 27, four people died on the spot and many others were injured.

The deceased have been identified as Mahesh R, Ranggappa, Siddappa, Sakkamma, Anitha and Jayamma.

Basawaraj (33), Kanchamma (20), Paringa (4), Sahana(4) were critically injured.

The accident occured at around 8.45 pm at Moglihonda when the Cruiser car in which they were travelling tried to overtake a bus. Both vehicles were speeding and collided against each other. The impact was such that the car was completely smashed, while the bus rolled over and fell into a ditch by the side of the road.

Out of the eight people in the car, four died on the spot, while four others including two children were critically injured. Initial reports had claimed that six had died, but it was later confirmed that there were four deaths.

Among the dead are two children, a woman and the driver of the car. The woman is said to be the mother one of the children.

The bus was travelling from Mangalore to Gulbarga. There were 42 passengers from Mangalore and Udupi in the bus, and all sustained injuries in various degrees, with some of them critically hurt.

Among the injured bus passengers is Fr Godwin Serrao, former St Aloysius College boys hostel director and now the principal of the new Gulbarga college.

Some of the injured were shifted to government hospital in Bhatkal and some are being brought to Mangalore.

The car also hit two electric poles, disrupting electricity in the area.

Traffic was affected for more than an hour.

Circle inspector Shivaprakash, DySP M Narayan and several teams of police rushed to the spot. Members of 'Top Help' association also assisted in shifting the injured to the hospital.