BENGALURU: Holiday trips during Deepavali turned tragic as nine people, including five children, died in three separate accidents in Bengaluru and its outskirts since Wednesday. The five children were aged 10 and below. In the first accident on Wednesday evening, two children and their uncle died after their car fell into a lake near Managanahalli, Ramanagara. Chidananda Swamy (23), who was at the wheel, Shashank Gowda (6) and Impana (7) died while Dilip Gowda (12) swam to safety. Residents of JP Nagar, they were coming back from a relative’s house after celebrating Deepavali.
In another accident on Thursday evening, a speeding Scorpio car hired by five engineering students from Bengaluru ploughed into a family sitting at a bus stop on the Mangaluru-Bengaluru highway near Kudur, killing a man and his two children. Kemperaju (40) was on his way to his village in Turuvakere on his bike with his family. He and his wife Mamatha (31) had halted at the bus stop to feed their children when the car, losing control, ran over them and crashed into an open land.
While Mamatha is critical, two occupants of the car Sajan Kumar (21) and Navaneeth Upadhyaya (22) died instantly. In the third accident on Thursday evening, a 7-year-old girl was fatally knocked down by an 18-year-old doing a wheelie on his bike. Sahana, a class 2 student, was standing outside her house in Chikkajala, north Bengaluru, when Raju came speeding at her.‘
A family of three, including two children, died after a speeding car fell into a lake near Managanahalli near Ramanagara on Wednesday. A 12-year-old boy, however, swam to safety.
The deceased are Chidananda Swamy (23), Shashank Gowda (6) and Impana (7). Dilip Gowda escaped with minor injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital. The children had gone to their relative’s house in Gottigehalli near Ramanagara with their uncle Swami, a BCom student. The family is from Srinidhi Layout in Konanakunte near JP Nagar.
Bidadi police said the accident took place around 6.30pm. When driving near Muttugadahalli lake, Swamy lost control of the vehicle while taking a sharp right turn and the car fell into the lake. As water entered the car, the two children suffocated to death while Swamy died after suffering a severe head injury. Dilip, however, escaped from the car window and swam to the tank-bund nearby.
A passerby alerted the villagers, who then called Bidadi police. After two-and-a-half-hours of rescue operation, the bodies were recovered and the car was removed from the lake.
Police said Swamy was speeding when the accident took place. Devaraj, a relative of the victims, said there was no fencing around the lake nor was there any street light. Dilip was brought to safety by the villagers but the boy has not spoken a word due to the trauma, Devaraj said.
The bodies were shifted to RR Nagar hospital for postmortem. The family’s last rites were performed on Thursday.The car belonged to Swamy’s brother-in-law Nagendra, who filed a case with Bidadi police. A case of negligent driving was booked against Swamy.