Daijiworld Media Network - Dharwad (SP)
Dharwad, Jan 15: In an accident which happened in the wee hours of Friday January 15, 13 people including the daughter-in-law of former MLA and BJP leader Gurusiddanagouda, breathed her last.
The deceased happens to be Dr Veena, wife of Dr Prakash Mattihalli, son of Gurusiddanagouda. Veena has left behind two children. A total of 13 persons lost their lives in the accident. They were residents of Vidyanagar Davangere, MCC A Block and MCC B Block.
The accident happened when a tempo traveller vehicle and lorry collided with each other at Ittigatti in the outskirts of Dharwad city at around 7.30 am. The tempo traveller was bound from Davanagere to Goa while the lorry was coming from Belagavi. Initially nine were killed, and four more succumbed at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital at Hubballi without responding to treatment later.
As per information available, 12 out of 13 deceased persons were ladies, all of them childhood friends. The other was the temple traveller's driver. All of them were of Davanagere origin. They were past students of St Paul's Convent school, Davanagere, and had met at a programme recently held at the school. The friends, who had met after a gap of several years, had planned a trip together to Panaji and had left Davanagere at 3 am. A tipper truck carrying sand hit the tempo traveller hard, resulting in the death of 12 out of 16 women in the vehicle. The condition of others is also serious and they are oscillating between life and death, reports said.