BENGALURU: Just a few hours after a deadly accident near Hoskote claimed the lives of seven, including six minors, five youth died after their car rammed into a divider and collided with an oncoming KSRTC bus on Saturday night.
The accident occurred on the Tumakuru–Bengaluru National Highway flyover in front of Jindal Hospital in the Madanayakanahalli police limits. Like in the previous accident on Friday early morning, here too the youth had allegedly lied to their parents about going out on a drive, the police said.
The deceased have been identified as Durga Prasad (20), who helped in his father’s business, Lalith Kumar (23), a CCTV technician, Harshith (20), a second PU student, Keshav (19) and Dhanush (17). All were friends and residents of Doddaballapur in Bengaluru Rural district.
Keshav was driving the Indica car (KA 02 MA 8841) owned by Lalith Kumar.
The five friends were heading towards Bengaluru around 11.30 pm when the driver, who was speeding, reportedly lost control of the vehicle and hit the divider. The car then jumped across to the other side of the road and crashed into the KSRTC bus (KA 06 F 1224) going from Bengaluru to Hubballi.
The impact completely damaged the front of the car. While four youth died on the spot, another succumbed to injuries at a hospital. The front portion of the bus too was damaged. However, all the 43 passengers on board escaped, while some sustained minor injuries. Based on a complaint filed by KSRTC bus driver Kemparaju, the Madanayakanahalli police registered a case against Keshav.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Karthik Reddy told that whether the driver was under the influence of alcohol would be ascertained after the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report. The blood samples of the deceased have been collected.
Dhanush’s mother Sunitha said, “He told me he would be back home in 10 minutes, but he never returned. He did not tell me where he was going.” His father said that around 8.30 pm, Dhanush had taken his mother to a bakery and later stepped out, saying he would return shortly.
“Among his friends, I knew only one person. I learnt about the accident around 6 am from his friends. I refused to believe it initially, but after seeing his tattoo, I confirmed it was our son,” he said.
Lalith Kumar’s mother Roopa said he had told her he was going to a temple and would return late. “We tried calling him multiple times, but he did not answer. When we contacted his friends, they said he would return in five minutes, but he never did”, she said.