BENGALURU : Four workers of a brick factory were killed, and two sustained injuries after a speeding Canter in which they were travelling, collided with a truck at Tirumagondahalli, near Anekal, in the early hours of Thursday. The tyre of the Canter burst due to overspeeding, and the driver is said to have lost control over the vehicle, which crossed the road median. Reckless driving was blamed for the accident, which affected traffic on the busy NH-7 for about an hour, police said.
The deceased were identified as Paramesh Nag (24), Chetu Mandovi (22), Rathan Kashyap (23) from Chhattisgarh, and Vinod (28) from MSIL Layout in the city. They were working in a factory in Attibele, and were travelling in the Canter, loaded with bricks. Truck driver Gopi and cleaner Sachchi are recovering in hospital. Surya City police shifted the bodies for postmortem.
A police officer said the incident occurred around 5.30am, when the Canter, coming to the city from Tamil Nadu, crashed into the divider when its tyre burst. Then it crossed the divider and collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction, heading towards Hosur. Although the Canter driver is being blamed for overspeeding, the highway divider, too, was not not of the standard height. The accident caused a huge traffic jam, extending to about 4km on the highway. Police rushed to the spot and cleared the road by towing the vehicles away.
Govindraju, an eyewitness, said the bodies were stuck in the cabin due to the force of the impact, and police had to cut the metal frame to remove them. One of the injured was shouting for about half-an-hour until he was finally rescued.Naveen, a resident, said, “There is something wrong on this part of the highway, as I have seen several accidents at this very spot. The road slopes a little, and drivers often lose control over vehicles. Highway authorities have to take some road safety measures to prevent such accidents.”
Shivu, the driver of the Canter in which the five deceased men were travelling, was booked on charges of
reckless driving. He escaped with minor injuries. Two other workers, Ramaswamy and Yakub, have given a statement to police. They sustained minor injuries as they were sitting in the rear portion of the vehicle.