As many as 14 people were killed and 20 injured when a lorry hit three vehicles at Rampur in Molkalmur taluk of the district on Saturday.
The accident occurred on the Bengaluru-Ballari state highway around 11 am when a tyre of the lorry burst. The lorry, laden with bags of paddy, was on its way from Ballari to Challakere. First, the lorry hit a passenger auto, then a Tempo Traveller and another auto, police said.
Among the deceased are auto passengers Honnurappa (48), Durugamma (40), and Chintamani (13), residents of Appenahalli in Kudligi taluk of Ballari district and natives of Andhra Pradesh; Vaishali (8) and Jayamma (40) from Vaderahalli in the same taluk; Basavaraj, a native of Nagasamudra and driver of the second auto; and Tempo Travellers passengers Shivaraj (9) and Ningappa of Bevinahalli in Shahpur taluk of Yadgir district.
While 11 of the victims died on the spot, the others breathed their last at the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) in Ballari. The injured are undergoing treatment at VIMS.
The lorry driver fled soon after the accident.
The identities of the deceased travelling in Basavaraj’s auto, which was on its way from Mechari in Andhra Pradesh to Rampur, are yet to be ascertained. They are said to be migrant workers in a foundry.
Those in the Tempo Travellers were on their way from Bengaluru to Bevinahalli to attend a funeral.
DH News Service
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