8 die in accident

Eight people were killed in a head-on collision between a sports utility vehicle (SUV) and a State road transport corporation bus at Itagi village on the Shimoga-Hospet national highway in Huvinahadagali taluk past midnight on Monday.

A group of villagers from Davangere were on their way to Tinthani Mouneshwar temple jathre in Surapur taluk of Gulbarga district in the SUV.  The bus from Raichur was on its way to Sagar in Shimoga district.

Victims
Srinivas Pattar (58), Nagaraj Achar (48), Gopal Achar (48), Bhadrachar (48), SUV driver Mouneshachar (30) and Dronachar (45) died on the spot, while Mallikarjuna Achar (52) died at the Itagi Primary Health Centre and Kotresh Achar died at the Chigateri General Hospital in Davangere.

Six others who suffered serious injuries have been admitted to the Davangere Hospital. Within minutes of the collision, villagers arrived at the spot and helped in retrieving the bodies from the SUV.

Driver arrested
The police have arrested the driver of the bus on charges of rash and negligent driving.
East Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sanjay Sahai, Bellary SP Chandragupta, DySP Nagaraj and CPI Srikanth Kattimani visited the spot.