Six killed as tanker collides with ambulance

Six people, including a patient, were killed and two injured when an ambulance they were travelling by collided with a bitumen-laden tanker at Kattarighatta Gate on National Highway 48 in the taluk on Tuesday morning.

It was a tragic end for 40-year-old Jessi from Kanjiganad village in Kottayam district in Kerala and her husband, Sajikumar (50).

Sajikumar had decided to shift his wife Jessi, who was undergoing treatment for an ailment in Sri Satya Saibaba Hospital in Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh, to Mangalore as it would be nearer home.

­They hired the services of Kumar Ambulance from Bangalore.

Both vehicles were clipping at high speed and it was evident as the ambulance was dragged for 40 metres after the impact and was badly damaged.

While the ambulance was perched on the road median, the tanker fell into a ditch, injuring its driver badly.

The other deceased have been identified as ambulance driver Shekhar (22) from Sakleshpur in Hassan district, Sumanth (28) and Ravi (24) of Margodanahall village in KR Nagar taluk of Mysore district and Eldos Mathews  (24) of Chalakudy in Kerala.
The tanker driver, whose name is not known, and Hariprasad from Anandashrama in Kasargod, who was in the ambulance, are undergoing treatment in Hassan district hospital.

Police rushed to the spot and helped in rescue operations. Superintendent of Police Amit Singh visited the spot.