As many as eight people were killed and 21 injured in a road accident involving a private bus carrying passengers from Maharashtra and a rice-laden truck on the Hubballi-Dharwad Bypass Road near Hubballi at midnight on Monday.
Police Commissioner Labhu Ram said that the accident occurred at around midnight near Revadihal on the bypass road close to the Tarihal Interchange in Hubballi. The injured were immediately shifted to Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) and Hospital in Hubballi.
While six persons were killed on the spot, two died of injuries at the hospital. As it was a long-route service, there were two drivers on the private bus. Both of them and the truck driver were killed in the accident.
The names of the deceased have been given as Nagaraj Achar (56) and Ataulla Khan (40) of Bengaluru, Babaso Chougale (59) and Mastan of Ichalkaranji (Maharashtra), Mohammed Diyan Beg (17) of Mysuru, Akshay Dawar (28), Aqif (40) and Afaq (40) of Kolhapur (Maharashtra).
The accident occurred at 11.45 p.m. on Monday when the driver of the bus tried to overtake a tractor on the two-lane bypass road, lost control and hit the truck. The private bus was heading to Bengaluru from Kolhapur in Maharashtra.
Initially, sources put the number of injured at 24 and now, as per official data, only 21 persons were injured. Although the truck fell over the tractor due to the impact of the collision, fortunately, none in the tractor were injured.
A majority of the injured passengers are from Maharashtra and only a few from Karnataka.
Meanwhile, some among the injured were taken to Kolhapur for further treatment.
Director of KIMS Hospital Ramalingappa Antaratani told presspersons that of the total 21 admitted in the hospital, 15 were taken to Kolhapur by their family members for hospitalisation there and the rest are being treated at KIMS Hospital.
Series of accidents
The Hubballi-Dharwad Bypass Road has often in been in news for the wrong reasons, as a series of road accidents have taken place on the narrow road killing several which made even the Supreme Court to seek a report from the State Government.
After much delay, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone last February for the development of the 31-km-long bypass road into a six-lane road, along with a four-lane service road, at an estimated cost of ₹1,050 crore. However, work is yet to begin.
