Six persons were killed and another four were wounded in a fatal road accident involving two cars, in the wee hours of Sunday, in Gadag district. The accident took place at around 3 am in Adavisompaur village on National Highway 63, some 12 km away from the district headquarters of Gadag, in north Karnataka.
The cars collided head-on and as a result, the front part of both the cars were mangled. This made difficult for the police to rescue those injured and remove the bodies. The deceased, who were travelling in one car, were identified as Hebballi-Agasi residents in Dharwad— Ananda Betageri (28), Aruna Betageri(26), Siddu(26), Manoj Kumar(27), Channu(26) and Amrith(27). They were reportedly on their way to attend their friend’s wedding.
All the four injured — Manjunath Hallikeri, Virupakshappa Abbigeri, Vishwanath Kerur and Vijaykumar Banavasi — who were in the other car, are residents of Gadag district. They were returning from a dinner at a dhaba. All were taken to hospital for treatment.
While Virupakshappa and Vishwanath were taken to a Gadag Hospital, the other two are being treated at a hospital in Hubbali.
The accident occurred after the car heading towards Gadag lost control and crossed over to the other side of the road. This resulted in the collision, killing all the six in one car instantly.
The Gadag Rural police have registered a case.
The accident comes just two days after two persons, including an ex-MLA, died in neighbouring Belagavi district. Dattu Hakkyagol (70), who was a former BJP MLA from Chikkodi Assembly Constituency, was riding pillion on a bike, which was hit by a truck.
According to statistics maintained by the Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, a total of 464,910 road accidents were reported in 2017, resulting in the death of 147,913 people and injuring 470,975 people. This means that every day, on an average, 405 people die in road accidents.