Two dead as truck falls off Yeshwantpur flyover

A 38-year-old driver and his assistant were killed when the truck he drove lost control and fell from the Yeshwantpur flyover in the early hours of Sunday.

Co-driver Srinivasa Rao (23) died instantly, while the driver K G Kenchegowda — severely injured in the accident — died in hospital in the evening. Both the bodies were shifted to the MS Ramaiah Hospital for the autopsy. The duo hailed from Hosur and was staying in the city.

The men were driving the truck containing mushrooms from Pune. The Yeshwantpur traffic police said Kenchegowda lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a sharp bend on the flyover and the vehicle smashed through the side wall and fell to the ground at 5.45 am.

Though an autorickshaw stand exists at the Yeshwantpur junction where the truck fell, no vehicle was present in the early morning hours. The police fear the crash would have left multiple casualties if the truck had fallen during the rush hours. While the police busied themselves with lifting the truck, passersby grabbed fresh mushrooms from the container.

Not the first accident

The sharp turn on the flyover has caused several accidents in recent times, prompting senior police officials to urge the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to work on a solution, though laying speed bumps on a flyover may not be feasible.

The police booked have Kenchegowda for rash and negligent driving and are further probing the case.

On November 17, 2017, a truck ferrying chicken fell from the flyover, leaving the driver and his assistant injured and thousands of chicken crushed.