BENGALURU: In a freak accident, eight passengers of a private bus died, while 24 others sustained injuries after a speeding vehicle overturned at Jetti Agrahara
near Koratagere on Wednesday morning. While five passengers died
on the spot, three others succumbed to injuries during treatment at a hospital, the police said.
The deceased were identified as Imran, a resident of Gerahalli, Akram Pasha, a resident of Holavanahalli, Shivakumar, a resident of Palamchi in Madhugiri taluk, Sadik and Srinivas. The names of three others who died at the hospitals are yet to be ascertained.
Those injured in the accident have been shifted to the government hospitals in Koratagere and also Siddaganga Hospital in Tumakuru.
The bus, which left Pavagada earlier in the morning, reached Jetti Agrahara in Koratagere around 9 am. As the bus was speeding, a two-wheeler overtook the bus and came in front of it abruptly. When the bus driver swerved to the right and again to the left, the bus overturned.
The bus was carrying 45 passengers at the time of accident and most of
them were labourers and traders who travel between Tumkur and Madhugiri every day.
The driver and conductor of the bus, who escaped from the spot after the accident to avoid getting beaten up, were arrested. The police booked driver Imran Baig, a resident of Itaka Dibbanahalli, for negligent and rash driving. An FIR was also registered against the bus owner, Sujatha Jagnnath.
