BENGALURU: Despite his best efforts to save his daughter, who was stuck in a van engulfed in fire after it toppled, Tharun Patel (43) could not. However, he managed to save his wife, two other children and parents with the help of the public.
In the tragic incident that occurred on the Bengaluru-Tumakuru national highway on Sunday night, Patel lost his 16-year-old daughter, Divya, who had just completed SSLC and was waiting for results. Eight members of the family, which hails from Gujarat and is settled in Dasarahalli for many years, had gone to a relative’s house in Abbigere for dinner on Sunday.
The family outing turned disastrous when a speeding car rammed their van from the rear on the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) Bridge in Madanayakanahalli on the highway. The van toppled thrice before catching fire as the petrol tank was damaged in the crash.
Tharun Patel was driving the car while his father Shanthilal (65) was sitting next to him. Patel’s three children -- Divya, Mayank (19) and Naman (20) -- were sitting in the rear seat of the van while his mother Manjula (65), wife Sunitha (39) and brother Mahesh (46) were sitting in the middle seat.
Narendra Patel, a family member, told TNIE that Patel managed to come out of the vehicle first and rescue his dad. “With the help of other commuters, Naman and Mahesh were also saved. But Divya was burnt alive in front of her family members,” lamented Narendra Patel, adding that the condition of Mayank, Sunitha and Manjula is critical as they sustained severe burns in the incident.
Tharun and his son Naman are also undergoing treatment for injuries at a private hospital in Nelamangala, his father and brother, who sustained minor injuries, were discharged on Monday morning, police said.
Nelamangala Traffic police are on the lookout for the driver of the car, who abandoned the vehicle and escaped. It is said that he was also injured in the accident.