BENGALURU: Four persons lost their lives in two horrific accidents, including a serial mishap involving four vehicles, on NICE Road on Monday.
In the first incident, three persons lost their lives when their SUV, which was being driven at a speed of 160 kmph, jumped a road median and rammed head-on with another SUV. The accident happened near the Channasandra bridge around 3.30 pm. The deceased have been identified as Nanje Gowda (45), a private transport businessman; Vinod (36), the car driver and a member of a gram panchayat in Kanakapura, and HV Kumar (41), a member of a dairy cooperative. All were residents of Shivanahalli and Hanumanhalli villages in Kanakapura taluk. All three were coming towards Bengaluru en route to Goa.
Sivaramakrishna and Prasanna, who were in the second SUV, sustained injuries and were admitted to a hospital. Their lives were probably saved due to the presence of airbags which the other vehicle didn’t have, police said.
The driver of the SUV was unable to see the road properly due to heavy rain. After he rammed the median, the vehicle shot over and collided with the oncoming SUV. The Kengeri traffic police have registered a case.
In another incident, a 42-year-old man died on the spot while five others sustained serious injuries in a serial accident involving four vehicles — a 16-wheel truck, a mini bus and two cars. The incident happened at Basapura bridge on NICE Road in Electronic City traffic police station limits around 9 am on Monday.
Traffic movement was affected for almost an hour following the accident as police had to clear the wrecked vehicles using cranes.
The truck, bearing a Rajasthan registration number, was parked on the roadside near the Basapura bridge owing to a suspected mechanical failure. The driver of the mini bus, who was reportedly speeding, hit the lorry from the rear, and two cars that were behind it collided into it.
The deceased has been identified as Devaraj of Kunigal, who was working in a switchboard manufacturing factory in Bommasandra. He was sitting next to the driver of the mini bus, which was ferrying workers to the factory when the accident happened. Five others who were injured were also travelling in the mini bus. The victims are undergoing treatment in nearby hospitals for multiple fractures. The occupants of the two cars that rammed the mini bus escaped with minor injuries.
Around 9.16 am, Dr Ganesh Srinivasa Prasad, nephrologist and transplant physician, posted about the accident on X. “Shocked to see a live accident where a minibus and two cars collided on Nice Road. I failed to extract a person who was stuck in the seat and end of a truck bleeding profusely, struggling to survive, gasping (sic)”, he posted.