Five K’taka pilgrims returning from Maha Kumbh killed in road accident
Bengaluru: At least five people from Karnataka’s Bidar district were killed on the spot, and seven others injured in a road accident near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday.
They were travelling to Kashi after visiting the Maha Kumbh Mela and taking a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam.
The deceased have been identified as 40-year-old Sunitha, 62-year-old Neelamma, 57-year-old Laxmi, 60-year-old Kalavathi, and 45-year-old Santhosh. All of them were residents of the Ladageri locality in Bidar city.
According to police reports, seven others sustained serious injuries and were shifted to a local hospital for treatment.
The accident occurred early Friday morning on the national highway near Roopapur in Mirzapur district. Police stated that the cruiser vehicle in which the victims were travelling collided with a parked vehicle. The impact of the collision was so severe that all five victims died on the spot, police said.
A team of 14 people had left Bidar on February 18 to participate in the Maha Kumbh Mela, travelling in a vehicle bearing the registration number KA 48 M 1853.
Earlier, Ramakrishna Sharma, a resident of Mysuru and Arun Shastri, from Mandya district were killed in a road accident while returning to the state after attending the Maha Kumbh Mela. They were travelling in a car and the incident took place after a truck collided with their vehicle near Mirjapur in Uttar Pradesh last month.
Four persons from Karnataka, including a mother and daughter are confirmed dead in the tragic incident of a stampede in which 30 persons lost lives at Prayagraj while attending Maha Kumbh Mela on January 29.
All four deceased persons hailed from Belagavi district of Karnataka.
The deceased were identified as Megha Deepak Hattavarth (24), her mother Jyothi Deepak Hattavarth (44), Arun Korpade (61) and Mahadev Hanmanth Bavanur (48).
In another incident, a Karnataka man hired contract killers to murder his younger brother and left for Maha Kumbh Mela to divert police attention and prevent suspicion of him. He was arrested after he returned from Prayagraj by the Mandya police on February 16.