Truck hits 5 vehicles, one dead, two injured

Bengaluru: A serial accident involving five vehicles killed a bus conductor and injured two others on Mysore Road near the Satellite Bus Stand in Byatrayanapura traffic police station limits on Friday morning. Police said the driver of a container truck lost control over the vehicle and collided with three buses, a SUV and a two-wheeler.

The deceased has been identified as Ravichandra, 39, a native of Kolar and a KSRTC employee from Kollegal depot. The two injured were riding a two-wheeler rider and have been identified as Shivananda Saraswathi and Bhagavathi (pillion rider). While the rider sustained minor injuries, Bhagavathi fractured her right leg, said the police.

According to the police, the 14-wheeled container truck (registration number KA-01-D-8610) carrying 35 tonnes of glass, was speeding towards Mysuru from Bengaluru. At around 6:10 a.m., when the truck reached near the satellite bus stand on Mysore road, the driver, Shivakumar R, lost control of the vehicle and first rammed into a two-wheeler from its behind and later collided with a Tata Sumo and three other buses, including a KSRTC bus, before coming to a halt, the police said.

The conductor of the KSRTC bus, Ravichandra, was standing outside the bus calling out for passengers and got crushed between the truck and the bus, the police added. Ravichandra sustained fatal injuries and died on the spot and his body was shifted to Victoria Hospital for post-mortem.

The two injured bike riders were shifted to a private hospital nearby, the police said. “Since it was early morning, there were less people at the bus stand and thus the casualties were less. If it had happened little later, it would have been more severe,” said a senior police officer. “There were three buses involved as buses keep coming out of the bus stand frequently at that junction. Had the bus conductor remained inside his bus, he could have escaped,” said a senior police officer.

Byatrayanapura traffic police rushed to the spot and seized the container truck. The truck driver, Shivakumar R., attempted to escape after the accident, but he was caught by an auto driver, who handed him over to the police. The police have registered a case of accidental death due to negligence and arrested the driver.