Mysore Tempo Tragedy: Thousands Attend Mass Cremation
Daijiworld Media Network - Mysore
Mysore, Dec 15: A mass cremation of those who died in the tempo tragedy on the evening of Tuesday December 14 was held here on Wednesday December 15, amidst thousands of people who came to pay their final respects.
The tempo had fallen into the Undabatti lake on Nanjangud road on Tuesday, claiming 30 lives. While 28 bodies were fished out on Tuesday, two more were found on Wednesday.
The mass cremation was jointly organised by Mandya district administration, the police department and the local villagers. The bodies were cremated in different villages of Pandavapura taluk.
At Aralakuppe 20 bodies were kept for public viewing at the primary health centre.
Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, legislator C S Puttaraju, Lok Sabha member Cheluvarayaswamy, Raitha Sangha president K S Puttannaiah and MLC Sandesh Nagaraj attended the funerals, while opposition leader Siddharamaiah paid a visit to Katteri.
The bodies had been taken for autopsy to KR Hospital and JSS Hospital.
Angry Villagers Block Roads, Police Resort to Lathi Charge
Mysore, Dec 15 (PTI): The death toll in the lake mishap near Mandakalli airport here rose to 31 with officials fishing out three more bodies today even as villagers blocked roads following which police baton charged and burst tear gas shells to disperse them.
Twenty-eight people, most of them women, drowned when their van fell into a lake near Kadakola on the Mysore- Nanjangud Road yesterday. They were returning home after attending a marriage feast in a nearby village.
However, the relatives, who had attended the wedding feast in Nanjangud found that some more persons were missing. They reported the same to the authorities, after their hopes that these four might have returned home safely, proved wrong.
The police and the fire brigade personnel swung into action and recovered three bodies.
Meanwhile, Kadakola saw angry demonstration by irate villagers, who protested against the condition of the roads and put up the road blockade over the issue. Police resorted to baton charge and burst tear gas shells to disperse them.
The villagers of Aralukuppe, near Pandavapura in Mandya district arranged a mass funeral of the deceased on a government land in the village this morning.
Meanwhile, sources said that while the tempo was drifting after it plunged into the lake, the driver carried a four-year old baby girl, who was sitting close by and jumped out for safety.
He left the girl and fled from the scene fearing he would be lynched. However, the child's mother had died in the accident.
Also Read: