Daijiworld Media Network - Sullia (SP)

Sullia, May 8: Three persons including the driver of a tractor-compressor died at Sheni in Chokkady in the taluk after the driver lost control over the vehicle, which then fell 20 feet down the gorge. This incident occurred on Thursday May 7.

Driver of the tractor-compressor, Madhava Gowda (35) from Sheni, and Narayana Naik (35), who also was from Sheni, and worked as labourer, lost their lives on the spot. Subrahmanya Rajendra (42), another labourer from Tamil Nadu, passed away when being shifted to a hospital. The other occupant of the tractor, Devappa Sheni, who also was a labourer, escaped with minor nicks and cuts.

The tractor was moving to the stone quarry located at Pajapalla from Sheni in Chokkady village on Thursday morning. It had four occupants including the driver. For reasons unknown, the driver suddenly lost control over his vehicle, after which, the vehicle plunged into the roadside gorge. All the four got trapped under the fallen tractor-compressor.

The locals and vehicle drivers, with the assistance of policemen from Bellare outpost, worked for nearly two hours to release the four persons from where they had got stuck. By then, both Madhava Gowda and Narayana Naik had breathed his last. Subrahmanya Rajendra, who was in critical condition, was being taken to Mangaluru for treatment, when he lost his life on the way. Luckily, the other labourer survived without major injuries.

Madhava Gowda is survived by wife. Narayana Naik has left behind wife and a very young son. He was living in the house of his in-laws after his marriage. Subrahmanya Rajendra hailed from Tamil Nadu and was living alone at Chokkady.

The bodies were entrusted to the relatives after postmortem at the government hospital here. A case about the accident stands filed in the local police station.