Three people, including a police constable, died and four were injured when a lorry hit a group of people removing a tree that had fallen on the road near Anchatageri village in Dharwad district on Tuesday night.
Pandit Kasar (28), police constable from the Kalghatgi Police Station, and two farmers, Shivalingappa Kalburgi and his brother, Hanumanthappa Kalburgi, from Gangival village, died on the spot.
Constable Kasar was to be married on April 23.
Two constables, Netaji Wagh and Shankar Bevinmarad, and local farmers Ravi Walikar and Siddappa Guddappanavar, were the injured.
The police and villagers rushed the injured to KIMS Hospital in Hubballi. The injured are said to be out of danger.
Some police constables from the Kalghatgi Police Station had rushed to the spot after a call came on helpline 112 saying that the tree had fallen, after a heavy thunderstorm, on the road between Anchatageri and Chalamatti villages near Hubballi. The caller also reported that a young man had met with an accident on the same road.
The police personnel and some villagers were removing the tree and its branches from the road when the lorry hit them.
Police Commissioner Labhu Ram and Superintendent of Police Krishna Kant visited the spot.
A case has been registered.
