Chamarajanagar, March 1
Five devotees visiting Male Mahadeshwara Hills were killed in a head-on collision between their car and a truck in Chikkindewadi village of Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district on Saturday.
The deceased were yet to be identified. However, based on the car's registration number, police believe the victims are from the Mandya district.
According to police, all five victims, including two women, were travelling to the popular pilgrimage site of Male Mahadeshwara Hills.
Police suspect that the accident was caused due to overspeeding.
The force of the head-on collision caused the car to roll into an adjacent agricultural field, spinning multiple times and resulting in the deaths of all five occupants.
The impact was so severe that a nearby tree was also sheared off. The car was completely mangled, and authorities faced difficulties extricating the bodies, which were trapped within the wreckage.
Police noted that the road in that area has numerous curves and dangerous turns.
The Kollegal Rural Police have initiated an investigation into the incident. More details are awaited.
On February 6, five members of a family, including three children, lost their lives in an accident in the Yadgir district of Karnataka.
According to police reports, the incident took place while all five were travelling on a bike from Surapura to Tinthani. A bus belonging to the Kalyan Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKSRTC), rammed into the bike from behind after the driver lost control of the vehicle, leading to the tragedy.
As a result of the impact, three people, including all two children, died on the spot, while the other two, succumbed to their injuries on the way to the hospital. The bike was completely mangled due to the collision. The bus was travelling from Kalaburagi to Chincholi at the time of the accident.
Earlier, at least 14 people, including three students, were killed and 25 others injured in two separate incidents in Karnataka's Karwar and Raichur districts on January 22.