Bengaluru: Five members of family die in car crash

Bengaluru: Five members of a family and a cab driver were killed when the car they were travelling in lost control, rammed into the central median and collided with a container lorry coming from the opposite direction in Dobbspet on Monday morning. The accident occurred around 6.45 am on the National Highway-4 road at Kengal-Kempohalli under the Dobbspet police limits.

The deceased have been identified as Mallappa Siddappa Belavattige, 28, the cab driver, a resident of Ronn taluk in Gadag, Bapu Gouda Patil, 48, a BMTC driver, a resident of Gonipura in Kengeri Hobli, his wife Savithramma 33, their daughter Sushmita, 8, son Basavanagouda, 10, and their relative Nagaratnamma, 38. Five of them were declared brought dead at the hospital, while Nagaratnamma died during treatment, the police said.

Twelve-year-old Manikanta, son of Nagaratnamma, is the lone survivor, but he has sustained grievous injuries and has been admitted to Harsha Hospital, the police said.

Bapu Gouda Patil’s mother expired in Naragund in Gadag on June 18. Patil’s family (wife and two children) along with his brother’s wife Nagaratnamma and her son Manikanta had gone to attend the funeral and were returning to Bengaluru when the car, which was a Maruti Swift Dzire bearing registration number KA-41-B-3501, crashed.

When the car reached Kengal-Kempohalli, Mallesh, who was driving rashly, lost control of the car, crashed into the divider and went onto the other side of road where there was oncoming traffic. The car then dashed against a container lorry (MH-04-FJ-7218) before coming to a halt.

The police shifted six bodies to the government hospital in Dobbspet for the postmortem. Inspector General of Police (Central Range) Seemanth Kumar Singh and Superintendent of Police Amith Singh visited the spot. A case has been registered at the Dobbspet police station.