A patient, two attendants and a toll booth employee were killed as an ambulance carrying them lost control and crashed into a toll booth in Karnataka's Udupi district Wednesday.
The driver of the van was also severely injured, the police said.
The horrific incident was captured on a CCTV camera at the toll booth. The video footage shows that the ambulance had aquaplaned on the wet road after the tyres lost traction.
Sources said aquaplaning, also known as hydroplaning, occurs when a layer of water builds between the wheels of the vehicle and the road surface, leading to a loss of traction that prevents the vehicle from responding to control inputs.
Due to this, the large ambulance van skidded on the wet road and swerved towards the toll booth cabin.
The video footage showed the ambulance approaching the toll booth at high speed. Sensing trouble, the security guards and toll operators were seen hurriedly removing three plastic barricades in order to allow the van to pass through unhindered. While two barricades were removed, a toll attendant managed to only pull out the boom barrier halfway before the van slammed into him.
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