Bengaluru: Ten women who wanted to celebrate their new-found freedom in Goa post Covid lockdown were killed in a dastardly accident in Karnataka’s Dharwad district. The minibus collided with a tipper truck on the Hubballi-Dharwad bypass near Itigatti. The driver of the minibus was also killed on the spot.
Among the deceased was the daughter-in-law of a former BJP MLA from Davangere’s Jagalur, Preethi Ravikumar. The accident took place around 8 am on Friday. The women were part of a group of 16 from Davangere, all members of the local Ladies Club.
The police said that about fortnight ago, the group had planned this trip and had decided to leave their family members behind.
According to the Dharwad Rural Police the group had decided to visit their friend in Dharwad for breakfast and had taken a detour. It was while the minibus was crossing the Hubbali-Dharwad bypass that it collided head-on with the tipper truck.
Those who died were Asha, Meerabai, Paranjyoti, Rajeshwari, Shakuntala, Usha, Veda, Veena, Manjula, Nirmala, Rajaneesh, Swati and Preethi Ravikumar. Five women and the driver of the tipper truck sustained critical injuries and are currently undergoing treatment at KIMS Hospital in Hubballi.
PM Modi condoled the death of the 11 people. In a tweet, he said, “Saddened by the loss of lives due to a road accident in Karnataka’s Dharwad district. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray for a quick recovery of those injured.”
A police officer, who was on the spot, told IANS that the cops had to take the help of a crane to extricate nine bodies from the mangled tempo traveller.
