31 feared killed after bus plunges into river in Mysore

www.mangaloretoday.com

Mysore, Dec 14: Thirtyone people were killed, 28 of them from the same family, when a tempo in which they were travelling fell into the Unabathi Lake near Mandakalli Airport on Mysore-Ooty road on Tuesday. The victims were returning from a postwedding feast hosted by the groom’s family in Nanjangud. Tragedy struck when the family was returning to Pandavapura, their native place. The bride and bridegroom Pooja (Pallavi) and Lokesh passed the lake in a car while the others were travelling in tempo and another vehicle. The tempo (KA 09 4622), which carried around 33 people, including the driver and cleaner, fell into the lake, killing around 28 people on the spot.

 

One of family members, Kumara, who lost his mother Sannadevamma, in the accident, said all the deceased belonged to Yeraganahalli, Yelekere, Gummanahalli and Aralakuppe of Pandavapura, Mandya district.

He said that though the incident occurred at around 3.20 pm, no rescue team arrived till 5.30 pm. Kumara and other relatives, who were following the tempo in the other vehicle, jumped into the lake to rescue them.

Unfortunately, they could save only four women as they got no help from the onlookers.
It was chaos as the district police failed to disperse more than 2,500 people gathered there, hampering rescue operations.

Later, fire tenders were able to fish out 27 bodies. A crane was brought to the spot at around 7.30 pm to lift the tempo out of the lake. The highway was blocked for hours after the incident.

Some of deceased include Premamma, Sannadevamma, Brinda, Veena, Jayamma, Ratnamma, Lakshmi (bride’s mother), Geetha, Rani, Chinnu (11monthold female child), Chandan (3), Manasa, Devamma, Mahadevamma, Bhaya, Narayana Gowda, Sumathi and Prema.

Among those shifted to K R Hospital, Veena and Geetha are said to be critical. Gagana, who was rescued, is also being treated at the hospital.

Courtesy: The New Indian Express

Protest

Irate villagers staged a snap strike and blocked the highway for more than 30 minutes protesting the negligence of the National Highway authorities. The Mysore-Ooty National Highway 212 is in a bad condition for the last three years and the authorities have not bothered to repair it.

Recently, the Union Government released Rs 9.2 crore for temporary repair of the road between Mysore and Nanjangud. A Rs 400-crore proposal to make the highway four-lane has been pending before the Centre for the last three years.

Medical Education and District-In-Charge Minister S A Ramdas visited the spot and announced a compensation of Rs one lakh to the kin of deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.