As many as 14 people were killed and 24 sustained injuries in two separate road accidents occurred in Uttara Kannada and Raichur districts on Wednesday. In the Yellapura incident, a truck carrying 29 fruit sellers fell into a 50-metre-deep valley in the wee hours of Wednesday, police said.
The victims from Savanur in Haveri district, were heading towards the Yellapura fair to sell fruits. The accident occurred in a forested section, the Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police M Narayana said. He added that there was no protection wall in the road there. “Eight persons were killed on the spot and two got critical injuries. The injured have been shifted to the KIMS Hospital in Hubballi,” the officer said. Two critically wounded persons too died, failing to respond to treatment, sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condoled the tragic incident. “An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000,” the Prime Minister Office said in a social media post.
In the Raichur incident, at least four persons including three students were killed and nine others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in overturned due to a tyre burst on Wednesday morning, police said.
