Seven people were killed early Friday morning in a chain collision involving a car, a motorcycle, and a canter truck on the Hoskote-Dabaspete National Highway near M Sathyavara village in Hoskote taluk of Bengaluru Rural district.
The crash, which occurred earlier today, left six occupants of an XUV and a bike rider dead on the spot, police said. The accident has once again brought focus on road safety along the busy stretch connecting Kolar and Devanahalli.
According to preliminary police findings, the XUV was travelling from Kolar towards Devanahalli when it first struck a motorcycle moving ahead of it. The driver is believed to have lost control after the initial impact, and the vehicle then rammed into a canter truck, triggering a fatal sequence of collisions.
How the accident unfolded on the Hoskote-Dabaspete highway
The force of the crash was severe. Police said the XUV was completely mangled. After the collision, both the truck and the motorcycle reportedly crossed the median and landed on the opposite side of the highway. The damaged XUV, meanwhile, came to rest nearly 500 metres away from where the other vehicles had fallen.
Six people travelling in the car and the rider of the motorcycle died at the scene. All six deceased from the car are said to be residents of Kothanur in Bengaluru.
IGP (Central) Labhu Ram, who visited the spot, stated, “Seven persons were killed in a series of road accident. We have cleared the vehicle and shifted the bodies to the hospital. Among the dead, the bodies of six persons — travelling on a bike and an XUV — have been identified. We will contact their family and relatives and complete the next procedures. The efforts are on to identify another deceased person.”
He added, “The investigation is on to find out whether the car driver was driving the vehicle in an inebriated state. We can’t say anything in this regard.”
Overspeeding suspected; probe underway
Police officials said overspeeding appears to be the primary cause of the mishap, based on initial findings. However, they clarified that a detailed investigation is ongoing.
Personnel from the Sulibele police station rushed to the scene soon after the crash. The bodies have been shifted to the government hospital in Hoskote for post-mortem examination. Bengaluru Rural Superintendent of Police Chandrakant also inspected the accident site.
Residents question highway design
In the aftermath of the tragedy, local residents raised concerns about the design and construction quality of the highway stretch between Sadappanahalli and Kamalipura Bridge. They alleged that the road lacks proper scientific planning and claimed that objections had been flagged by an engineer during construction regarding design flaws.
More details are awaited as the police continue their probe.