JOIN USFive people were killed after the car they were travelling by collided head on with a tender coconut-laded lorry near Sathenahalli Gate on Arsikere Road in the taluk early Tuesday.
The occupants of the car were on their way to Mandya after attending a funeral at Balemane in Shimoga district, the police said.
The dead were identified as Srinath, 55, his wife Tara, 45, both residents of Kothnur in Kollegal taluk, Chamarajanagar district; their relative Ramachandra Bhat, 48, and his wife Chandramathi, 45, both from Chamundeshwarinagar in Mandya; and the car driver Srinivas.
While Tara and Srinath died of injuries at a hospital in Hassan, the other three died on the spot, the police said.
After attending the funeral of Tara’s father, who died on Monday, the four relatives were returing to their homes in businessman Ramachandra Bhat’s car.
While the lorry driver fled after the accident, the police arrested the cleaner.