BENGALURU: Four youngsters died and nine others were injured when an overspeeding Innova rear-ended their Maruti Omni near Kannamangalapalya Gate, on the Bengaluru-Hyderabad national highway late Tuesday night.
The deceased were identified as Satish, 22, a resident of Bhuvaneshwari Nagar in RT Nagar, Sundar, 23, of Cholanayakanahalli near Hebbal, Vikas, 23, of Mathikere, and Venkatesh, 25, of Devanahalli.Ajith, Bharath, Hemanth, Ravi and Avinash, who were also in the van, and Manoj, Indudhar and Madhu, who were in the Innova, sustained injuries. All are said to be out of danger.
Police said that a group on nine youths, all working as flower decorators, were driving past Kannamangalapalya Gate around 11.30pm, when the speeding SUV rammed them. Two of them died on the spot, while two others were declared brought dead at a nearby hospital. Among the injured, Ajith is seriously injured while the others sustained fractures.
“We suspect that the youths were headed to Nandi Hills. The Innova was moving at a speed of around 140-150km/hr, and according to eyewitnesses, the driver could not control the SUV even after spotting the van moving just ahead.
Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the men in the Innova runs a hotel near Nandi Hills. Around 10.30pm, one of the hotel staffers called him and informed that some people were creating trouble at the hotel.
He was heading to the hotel with two others and was in a hurry. Due to the impact of the collision, both vehicles were mangled, Devanahalli traffic police said.
FAMILY OF DECEASED INCONSOLABLE
Satish’s family had moved from Tirupati to Bengaluru four years ago, as most of their relatives lived here. Satish had started ‘Party Planners’, which undertook flower decoration. His friends joined hands with him and they were doing good business. “He was passionate about decoration. He left home around 10.30pm and was supposed to return soon. We were devastated when police called us around 3am and informed us about his death,” Satish’s sister Meena said. His friend Mahesh said Satish was a helpful person. “He was so good at decorating that he got orders from Mumbai, Goa and other states. During Ganesha festival, he had decorated the pandal in the area for free.” At Sundar’s house, relatives gathered to console his parents, Subramani and Shanthi. “Generally, my son never went out at night. But yesterday, he left home around 10pm, saying he had some work and would return soon,” Shanthi told TNIE, as she choked. Sundar also worked as an auto driver whenever he was free, to finance his siblings’ fees, said Sharan.