CHIKKABALLAPUR: Eight people lost their lives when a goods vehicle rammed their jeep near Madikere Cross of Madanpalli-Chinthamani Road near here on Sunday. While five of the passengers died on the spot, three others succumbed at the hospital. Kencharlahalli Police have arrested the driver of the canter vehicle.
Seventeen people, including the driver and two children, were travelling in the ill-fated jeep. Central Range Inspector General of Police M Chandrashekar visited the spot. He said that the injured were admitted to the Kolar SNR Hospital and some shifted to Bengaluru.
Chikkaballapur Superintendent of Police G K Mithun Kumar said that jeep was being reportedly used for passenger trips. The deceased have been identified as Munirathnaiah, Narayanaswamy, Ramesh (driver) and Venkatalakshmma. The names of the remaining victims are yet to be known, he said.
The passengers were from Srinivasapura, Chinthamani and other places and had boarded the jeep at different places. Following the accident, many people rushed to the spot as well as the hospital to check if their relatives are among the victims.
Srinivasapura MLA and former Speaker Ramesh Kumar, Malur MLA K Y Nanje Gowda and Chinthamani MLA J Krishna Reddy visited the spot. The incident took place at a spot where a part of the road is under-construction. According to locals, it is quite common to see jeeps being used for passenger trips and the RTO never took any action for overloading, or to check the vehicles.