Six of two Bangalore families killed in road mishap

Winter turned out to be the cruellest season for two families in Kodihalli’s Bovi Colony in Bangalore, as six of them were killed in a road accident on Krishnagiri highway while returning to Bangalore in the early hours of Monday.

The driver of the Tempo Traveller, in which the families were travelling, was also killed  as the vehicle smashed into a granite-laden lorry around 2.30 am. Five others were admitted to the Nimhans with injuries.

Police said the families were returning after a pilgrimage to Om Shakti Temple at Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu. The driver had not noticed the lorry in the thick fog.

Arun, 26, an MBA student, his mother Bhagyalakshmi, 46, their neighbour and BPO employee Jayaram Reddy, 45, his son Prithvi, 18, and nieces Suguna, 18, and Sruthi, 16, were killed, besides the driver, Prakash. Siblings Sruthi and Suguma, residents of Banaswadi, had joined their uncle on the fateful trip.

“There is no one left to take care of Jayaram’s wife. It will be hard for her to come to terms with this,” Reddy’s friend Suresh said.

Twelve members of the two families went to the temple in two vehicles. Driver Prakash had another trip to make on Monday, and was speeding towards Bangalore to be on time, police said.

As the lorry braked, the driver failed to notice it. The bodies of the deceased were brought to Kodihalli by 5.30 pm. Sub-inspector Guruprasad of Jeevanbimanagar police said they were providing the necessary help to the bereaved.

Incidentally, eight persons, including seven of an extended family in Raghavendra Colony, were killed in October this year when the Tempo Traveller in which they were travelling to Hosur from Madurai rammed into an overloaded tipper lorry at Gajendranagar, 5 km from Paramathi police station in Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal district.

They were returning from a trip to several pilgrimage centres in south Tamil Nadu.