Hubballi: Nine people, including three children and three women, died on the spot as their SUV collided with a truck on Ankola-Gooty National Highway-63 at Arabail Ghat in Yallapur taluk of Uttar Kannada district on Wednesday morning.
The deceased are relatives of former MLA Sham Ghatge of Kudachi constituency in Belagavi district. One of the victims is seriously injured and has been admitted to the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) here. All the deceased passengers hailed from Raibag taluk of Belagavi district and were returning home after visiting the Kukke Subramanya Temple in Dakshina Kannada district. The accident occurred when their SUV tried to overtake a lorry.
The police rushed to the spot soon after the incident and two passengers died even as the police tried to extricate them from the mangled remains of the vehicle.
The deceased have been identified as Vivek Vasanth Ghatage (34), businessmen from Raibag, his wife Menaka (28), his son Varadaraj (2), daughter Vaishnavi (5), his sister Renuka Chandrakanth Kamble (30), nephew Abhinav Chandrakanth Kamble (3) of Kamalapur, Gauravva Vasanth Metri (58) of Nidagundi, Sachin Madhulkar Jandenavar (28) and the driver Mujju alias Mujahid Naykwadi (32).
Yallapur police have registered a case.
