JOIN USTanker runs over couple sleeping on road to beat heat
In a freak accident, a tanker driver ran over a middle-aged couple who were sleeping on the narrow road outside their home to escape from the intense heat. The incident occurred in Shanabhoganahalli, Rajanukunte, in northern Bengaluru early on Sunday, the police said.
Ramakrishnappa, 55, and his wife Rathnamma, 45, who are labourers, (in pic) decided to sleep on the 12-foot-wide concrete road as they found the humidity inside the house unbearable. In the morning, neighbours woke up to find them lying in pools of blood with their heads crushed. The jurisdictional Rajanukunte police suspect that the incident occurred some time after 1 am. The tanker had come onto the road and the driver tried to reverse it. But he failed to notice the couple sleeping on the road and ran them over. The couple died instantly, a senior police officer said.
“We have tracked down the owner-cum-driver of the vehicle. His name is Ramesh. The vehicle appears to have been used to transport labourers to work sites,” the officer said.
Muniyappa, a resident of Shanabhoganahalli, said, “The couple had been sleeping on the road for the past few days because of the intense heat inside their house.
It’s common for people to sleep outside their homes during summer. They sleep on the edge of the road so that there is ample space for vehicles to move. Usually, only two-wheelers move in these narrow lanes. We don’t know how a heavy vehicle entered this narrow street.”
He said the lane was poorly lit. He also spoke about a Tempo Traveller that often arrived in the village to take local residents to work sites in Bengaluru. It seems the driver didn’t have any space while reversing the vehicle and ended up running over the couple, he added.