Bengaluru, Oct 14 (DHNS): Friday the 13 was bad for Bengaluru. Eight people were killed due to heavy rains, a man was severly injured as a wall collapsed on him while he was on his bike.
The city was almost flooded causing traffic snarls all over besides inundating thousands of houses.
Four people including a mother and daughter, a priest and another person washed away in the rain as water levels raised to dangerous proportions while four others including a couple died due to wall collapse caused by the downpour.
With this, the total number of deaths caused by rains in the city this monsoon has gone up to 14.
Water level rose upto 20 feet in Laggere storm water drain as against a 8 feet retaining wall causing flooding on the road and into houses nearby. Meenakshi (57) and her daughter Pushpa (22) came running out of their home when storm water gushed into their building. But both got washed away as water levels raised and gained force.
Similarly in Kurubarahalli Junction, Vasudev, a priest of Ganesha temple in Kurubarahalli Junction in Basaveshwara Nagar washed away in a storm water drain. His body has been found. Another person who was with Vasudev is also suspected to have washed away.
Fire personnel and the police are making efforts to trace those washed away
In Kurubarahalli 18th cross, a couple Shankarappa and Kamalamma died on the spot when wall collapsed due to heavy rain. The couple was clearing off their water logged in their compound by fetching it in buckets and throwing it away outside, the police said.
Similarly in Laggere, two persons Rudra and Mahendra died on the spot when wall collapsed on them.
The police along with Fire and Emergency Services and ambulances have been stationed near the temple and search for Vasudev is underway. The police are also making announcements on loud speakers not to venture outside.
The rain coupled with thunder storm and lightening struck all across the city causing inundation. In a few areas like Yeshwantpur BMTC bus terminal, Shivananda Circle and many low lying areas like Chandra Layout, Nandini Layout, Hosaguddadhalli, the water level was upto four feet submerging sever vehicles.
The killer rain and its victims
May 20: Rajkumar (24), a JCB operator, fell into a stormwater drain in Kurubarahalli, near Basaveshwaranagar.
September 27: Narayanappa (48) died after compound wall of a neighbouring house collapsed on him, in Madanayakanahalli on the city’s outskirts.
September 9: Three persons Ramesh (42), wife Bharathi (38) and Bharathi’s brother Jagadish (46) — all residents of Summanhalli were killed on the spot when a huge eucalyptus tree came crashing down on their parked car on Dispensary Road cross near Minerva Circle. On the same day in Sheshadripuram, an 18-year-old Varun was washed away in a drain.
October 13: Kurbarahalli: Couple died on spot after their house wall collapsed in Kurbarahalli 18th cross. The deceased idetified as Shankarappa and Kamalamma.
Kurubarahalli Junction: Vasudev, a priest of Ganesha temple in Kurubarahalli Junction in Basaveshwara Nagar washed away in a storm water drain. Another person who was with Vasudev is also suspected to have washed away.
Laggere: Meenakshi (57) and her daughter Pushpa (22) came running out of their home when storm water gushed into their building. But both got washed away as water levels raised and gained force.
Two more people feared dead after the wall collapse in Laggere.