Mother, daughter crushed to death after cement mixer truck topples on car

A 47-year-old woman and her 15-year-old daughter were crushed to death by a cement mixer truck that toppled on their car near Byalada Marada Doddi on Kaggalipura Road on Wednesday.

Gayathri Sunil and her daughter Samatha Sunil were residents of an apartment in Kaggalipura. Gayathri was a software engineer in a private firm while Samatha was a class 10 student in a private school.

Police said Gayathri was on the way to drop off Samatha at school when the incident happened. Gayathri was married to Sunil Kumar, a software engineer. The couple had another child, who was with the father at home. When they were driving near Byalada Marada Doddi around 8.30 am, a cement mixer truck loaded with cement mixture was moving next to them. The driver was speeding and applied sudden brakes.

The vehicle toppled and fell on the car moving adjacent. Gayathri and Samatha were crushed inside the vehicle. Police suspect the driver applied the brakes to negotiate a slight curve and lost control.

Local residents and passersby gathered and called the police.

Bannerghatta police had to press a crane to separate the cement mixture from the truck and lift it from the car after an hour. The bodies were taken out only after that.

Meanwhile, Sunil got an update about the accident on a mobile phone app. He rushed to the spot before the crane and earthmovers were pressed into the operation.

Driver escapes

“The driver managed to escape from the spot. The name of a private firm is mentioned on the truck. We have formed a team to trace the owner of the vehicle and the driver. The bodies were handed over to the family after post-mortem,” police said.

Police said Gayathri was working from home. The family is from Ballari and has been living in Bengaluru for the last 20 years.