Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore
Special correspondent reporting from Suratkal (MB)
Mangalore, Apr 10: The two casualties of the head-on collision on the Mumbai national highway between two lorries on Sunday, April 9 morning have now identified as two drivers from Kerala. The other injured in the lorries also have been identified.
The gory mishap had occurred in front of the Shubhagiri hall at Kulai-Hosabettu near Suratkal on early Sunday morning around 7-15. Two drivers seated in one of the lorries have died in the collision. The second, arriving from Belgaum, had its driver and a relative sustaining severe head and leg injuries.
The lorry of Belgaum origin was carrying a load from Padmavati Sugar Factory, Chikkodi on April 8 night. From the other direction, the lorry from Kottayam in Kerala was laden with rubber packaging case metal with Pune as destination.
With the impact of a direct collision, Kerala lorry driver Babu Thomas (38) who was at the wheel and George Joseph (28), who was sleeping on the rear seat are said to have died on the spot.
The driver of the Belgaum lorry Subbavannat Bhandary, a resident of Kumta-Yaravatta in Uttar Kannada and his nephew and cleaner of the lorry Tulasida (20) have landed severe head and leg injuries.
Cranes had to be used to separate the vehicles and extricate the dead and the injured persons out of them. Fire service and the police, with the help of the public, did a commendable job, with the traffic blocked on the national highway being cleared in about an hour-and-a-half's time.
Sunday April 9 Flash report with pics: