Six members of two families died in an accident involving a public transport bus and a multi-utility vehicle in Gadag district of Karnataka on October 16. Three children suffered grievous injuries. Five persons died on the spot while a grievously injured boy breathed his last in a hospital in Gadag district
The accident occurred at Gaddi Halla on the Gajendragad-Naregal road on the outskirts of Naregal. The two families from Kalaburagi district were travelling in the MUV to Fakkreshwar mutt at Shirahatti and Balehosur mutt in Laxmeshwar taluk.
The MUV hit an NWKRTC bus that was heading to Gajendragad from Naregal.
The deceased have been identified as Shivakumar Subhash Kalashetti, 48, his wife Chandrakala Kalashetti, 42, and his sister Rani Kalashetti, 25, of Madana Hipparagi; and Sachin Mallikarjun Katti, 32, and his wife Dakshayani Katti, 29, of Afzalpur in Kalaburagi district.
The four children of these two families were also in the MUV and they were shifted immediately to the district hospital in Gadag.
However, six-year-old Dingalesh Kalashetti (son of Shivakumar Kalashetti) did not respond to the treatment and breathed his last at the hospital, sources said.
A few passengers in the NWKRTC bus suffered minor injuries.
Naregal police rushed to the spot on being alerted and helped transport the injured persons to Gadag district hospital. The MUV was completely mangled due to the impact of the collision. Police had a tough time extricating the bodies from the vehicle.
The bodies were identified based on the documents in the vehicle, and in their bags.
Vehicular movement on the route was affected until the vehicles were shifted to the roadside.
According to the driver of NWKRTC bus Appanna F. Polad, the accident occurred because one of the tyres of the MUV burst, causing the driver to lose control. “I could see from a distance that the driver had lost control of the vehicle. So I took the bus to the left side. However, when he came very close, I tried to turn the bus away so as to give way to him, but he hit the bus,” he told reporters.
Sri Dingaleshwara swami of Fakkireshwar mutt too rushed to the district hospital in Gadag to enquire about the health of the injured persons. He told mediapersons that the two families were closely associated with the mutt for long, and used to visit the mutt at least once in six months.
In Naregal, Ron MLA G.S. Patil told mediapersons that he had spoken to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and district-in-charge Minister H.K. Patil about announcing compensation of ₹2 lakh each.
He also said that, as the injured children were in need of further advice on neurological problems, steps were taken to shift them to a private hospital in Hubballi.
