Low visibility due to dense morning mist in the area probably led to the accident on the outskirts of Chickballapur in which 13 people died, the police said on Thursday.
The accident occurred at 7.10 a.m. when the SUV, which was overloaded, rammed into a tanker parked near a traffic police station. The tanker driver had parked the vehicle by the roadside and had gone to attend to nature’s call. The morning mist was dense, leading to very low visibility. The SUV driver probably did not see the tanker, the police said. Moreover, the tanker driver, Palani, had not switched on the parking lights. The police have arrested the tanker driver, booking him under Section 304A for causing death due to negligence.
The SUV driver, Narasimhappa, 40, hailing from Gorantla in Andhra Pradesh, was illegally running a ferry service in a whiteboard vehicle and had overloaded the vehicle. While the vehicle could carry eight persons, 13 persons were travelling in it and all of them were killed in the accident.
The police had a Herculean task identifying the deceased, as the bodies were severely damaged.
The deceased have been identified as Aruna, 32, a resident of Doddaballapur, and her six-year-old son Hritvik; Narasimhamurthy, 37, who hailed from Bagepalli in Chickballapur district and was working in a salon at Kaval Byrasandra here; Perimili Pawan Kumar, 32, from Gorantla; Venkata Subbamma, a resident of Kamakshipalya; Shantamma, 37, a garment factory employee at Hongasandra who hailed from Puttaparthi; Rajavardhana, 15; Venkataramana, 51, a weaver at Kamakshipalya hailing from Nawabakota, Andhra Pradesh; Narayanappa, 50, a labourer working at Yelahanka and hailing from Malkavaara Palli in Andhra Pradesh; Bellala Venkatadri, 32, a wall painter residing at Bommasandra and a native of Gorantla, and his wife Lakshmi, 20, a garment factory worker; Ganesha, 17-year-old student from Gorantla; and the driver Narasimhappa.
Relatives of the deceased who came to claim the bodies were inconsolable. One of them said that Narasimhamurthy had gone to drop his wife and children to his native place for the festival and was returning to work. His relative who had come to drop him suggested that he go by a bus, but Narasimhamurthy was in a hurry, so he took the private cab which was already crowded, only to end up dead.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced ₹2 lakh compensation to the families of each of the deceased.
