Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)
Bantwal, Mar 2: The sight of the accident spot at Kudrebettu near Kalladka was macabre. But it was no less a miracle that no one suffered life-threatening injuries or lost their livs in this accident which happened on Thursday March 1.
After a tipper truck went out of control of its driver at Kudrebettu on national highway 75, it hit a KSRTC bus, a Bolero jeep, andI Innova car. Driver of Innova car, Mistafa, and passengers, Sanaulla, Abusali, Rasheeda Sumayya, Tasleema and two children, Fatima Salma and Shaheed, all of whom were heading for a marriage function, survived with injuries. They are however, out of danger.
Jameela and her son Javed who were in the KSRTC bus suffered minor injuries. They too are out of danger.
The tipper truck in question loaded with bitumens was moving towards Mangaluru from the direction of Mani when it hit a KSRTC bus that was headed towards Puttur from the direction of Mangaluru. The tipper truck then moved ahead and hit a jeep and an Innova car that was following the jeep, it is said. Because of the force of the collision, the car got stuck below the tipper truck before hurtling down a steep gorge by the roadside. The passengers in the car suffered minor injuries. The injured were rushed by locals to a private hospital at Thumbe where they were treated as outpatients, police personnel said.
In this accident, the Innova car fell 15 feet down from the road, after which the tipper truck got deposited over it.
It is gathered that the tipper truck in question belongs to Rajkamal Constructions. Its driver fled from the scene of the accident. Police from here visited the spot, inspected the accident scene, and undertook investigation.
The Innova car was completely mangled in the accident while KSRTC bus, Bolero car and tipper truck suffered some damages. Traffic on the highway was affected for sometime due to the accident. The traffic police rushed to the spot and paved way for smooth traffic. A case stands registered in the traffic police station at Melkar here about the accident.
A passenger of Innova car, Sanaulla, who survived with minor injuries, said that everything happened in a flash after the tipper which approached the spot at high speed hit the bus and Bolero vehicle. "Even as our driver was trying to avoid the tipper, it directly came and hit our vehicle. We fell deep down and our vehicle was crushed under the weight of the tipper truck, but with God's grace, we are alive, and did not suffer serious injuries. We were helped out by locals," he explained.