Seven persons died and three others were seriously injured when the vehicle in which they were traveling fell into a tank near Shravanabelagola, 30 km from Hassan, in the wee hours on Saturday morning.
According to the police,the victims, employees of Toyota Kirloskar Motor in Bengaluru, were proceeding to Chikkamagalur from Shravanabelagola when the tragedy struck while negotiating a curve at the Janivaratank spot.
The deceased have been identified as Janardhan (28), Karthik (26), Satheesh (29), Jayanth (30), Raju (29), Prakash (30) and A N Karthik (27).
The injured had been admitted to Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences at Hassan.
The National Highway in In Channarayapatna in the district was blocked for some time by the locals, who were demanding construction of a protection wall to the Janivaratank.
PTI