Beltangady: Horrendous Accident Claims Three Lives; Five Serious
Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (SP)
Beltangady, May 6: Death stalked a family of a Dubai-based employee, when the Maruti Omni vehicle they were travelling in, met with a gory accident, after colliding with a government bus at Nidle village near here on Wednesday May 5.
Prasad Shetty (30), from Kubevoor near Mulky, Subhash Shetty (32) and Preksha Shetty (5), lost their lives in the accident. Five persons, Baby Shetty (60), Sabita (40), Pratibha (30), Swati (15) and Chirag (18 months) sustained grievous injuries. They are being treated in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Mangalore.
Prasad, a Dubai-based employee, was on leave to visit his family. He was to return on May 14, it is learnt. The family was travelling to participate in the ‘Ashlesha Bali’ religious ritual organized at Subrahmanya, in the vehicle owned by Subhash, brother-in-law of Prasad. Baby Shetty is the mother of Prasad, and Subhash’s wife pratibha, is his sister. The ill-fated Omni was involved with a head-on collision with a KSRTC luxury bus coming from Bangalore, at the Boodujal bend in Nidle village.
Preksha, who was sitting on the front row, died on the spot. Subhash, who was driving the vehicle, and Prasad, who occupied the seat besides the driver, died while being shifted to the hospital. The fact that the ‘108’ ambulances reached the spot immediately after the accident, helped in preventing further casualties.
Chirag has suffered severe injuries to his head and legs, while Baby Shetty suffered critical injuries to her head. The condition of both of them is said to be critical. Swati suffered leg injuries, and the bones around the waist of Pratibha have suffered fractures. Sabita suffered head injuries.
Jayanti’s family is settled in Mumbai, while Sabita lives with her husband in Pune. Baby lives in Kubevoor, looking after the family’s agricultural lands.
Uppinangady police station inspector, Manjaiah, and sub-inspector, Nagesh Kadri, visited the spot and conducted investigation. A case has been booked against Lokaiah Gowda, driver of the KSRTC bus.
KSRTC depot manager, Muralidhar Achar, also visited the spot. Former MLA, Prabhakar Bangera, BJP district vice-president, Kushalappa Gowda Poovaje, Attaje Keshava Bhat and several BJP leaders visited the mortuary of Beltangady government hospital, where the bodies of the victims were kept. It is learnt that Subhash, who ran a cable network in Pakshikere, had entered the gram panchayat elections this time, as a BJP-supported candidate for Kemral gram panchayat.