Three persons including two sisters of a family, originally from Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district, were killed in a deadly road accident on Wednesday morning after their Tata Safari vehicle hit a median and turned turtle on the Bengaluru-Kolar Highway near Hoskote. Three others including two children were injured. All of them were staying at Immadihalli in Bengaluru’s Whitefield, police said. They were returning after celebrating New Year in their hometown.
Srilatha (35) and Srirekha (32) died instantly as a result of the accident. Their cousin Srinadh was declared brought dead after he was taken to a hospital. The injured were identified as Sreelatha’s husband Bala Kishore and children Yagnajith (11) and Varshini (10). They are undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
According to reports, the accident took place at around 2:45am near Mylapura Gate in Whitefield. Police suspect that Srinath had fallen asleep on the wheel or was overspeeding which led him to lose control.
“Srinadh was driving the black Tata Safari. It hit the median and entered the opposite lane before toppling over several times and landing in a ditch. Both sisters were killed instantly and Srinadh was declared dead in a hospital,” an officer said.
A case of accidental death and rash and negligent driving has been registered by Hoskote Police Station against Srinadh.
According to police, the two sisters died as they were not wearing seat belts while Bala Kishore survived although he was seated in front with Srinadh. The children were seated at the back.
“Bala Kishore had put the seat belt, which saved his life. Srinath was not wearing the seat belt, resulting in grievous injuries to him,” an officer told The Hindu.
According to statistics maintained by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Karnataka saw 10,609 deaths in road accidents for the year 2017 which was 524 less than in 2016.