Seven members of a family from Bangalore were killed and five injured when a Tempo Traveller in which they were travelling met with an accident on Sunday night at Karur near Salem.

The deceased were: Shesha Bhushan (73), Sreenivas (45), Rohini (42), Shankar (52), Manjunath (42), Manjula (45) and Suma (48). The driver of the Tamil Nadu-registered vehicle also died in the accident, but his identity has not yet been established.  Initial accounts from the survivors revealed that the vehicle had rammed into a stationary  tipper lorry around 12:45 am.

Four others—Navya (12), Namrata (17), Ashwini (36) and Krishna Rao (47)— were injured. Eleven-year-old Sneha is in a critical condition and has been admitted to hospital at Namakkal near Salem. Krishna Rao, his daughter Namrata and Navya were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Venlakh Hospital at Chamarajpet on Monday evening.  The bodies of the deceased were brought to Bangalore on Monday night.

Shesha Bhushan’s house at Raghavendra Colony at Chamrajapet wore a desolate look as the members  of his family, including wife Nagalakshmi and son Anil, immediately left for Namakkal to receive the bodies.

Bhushan’s brother-in-law Manohar said the family had left for Kanyakumari and Madurai by train. On their return trip, as train tickets were not confirmed, they decided to travel by road.

“They thought it was better to hire a Tempo Traveller as they could not travel comfortably by train and had to reach Bangalore on Monday morning,” Manohar said. However, that decision cost them their lives. The plan was to travel by the Tempo Traveller till Hosur and from there the relatives would pick them up in cars. “I spoke to them at 10 pm on Sunday. But, early in the morning, we received a call from Ashwini, who escaped with injuries, informing us about the accident,” he said.

“Initially, Ashwini was cautious and told us that only her husband Manjunath and the driver were killed. Later only, we came to know that the others were also killed in the accident,” Manohar said.

Ashwini was seated with Navya on her lap. When the impact of the accident broke the glass panes on the windows, Ashwini jumped out of the van along with Navya, thereby saving both. Unfortunately for Ashwini, her daughter Sneha was severely injured. Amid all the trauma, little Navya showed the presence of mind to call her parents in Bangalore to inform them about  the accident. Both Sneha and Navya are students of Vasavi Educational Trust.

One of Shesha Bhushan’s relatives said he had retired as a BMTC bus conductor  and that he had worked with actor Rajnikanth. Shesha Bhushan’s wife Nagalakshmi had not travelled with the group as she is severely ill.