Bangalore: At least 13 persons, including women and children, were killed and five critically wounded when an SUV collided with a car that had crashed against a road divider moments ago near Kunigal in Tumakuru district of Karnataka in the early hours of Friday, police said. Twelve of the victims died on the spot while a child succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
The death toll may rise as some of the injured are in very critical condition. Two of the those injured have been put in ventilator as they are showing signs of multiple organ failure.
Among the dead, 10 were from Tamil Nadu and three from Bangalore. All of them were pilgrims who were on their way to Dharmasthala in Karnataka.
There were five women and two children among the dead, the police said.
“Thirteen persons have died. The incident occurred post midnight. A car crashed against the road divider and another car collided with it,” Tumakuru Superintendent of Police (SP) K Vamsi Krishna said Friday morning.
The police had to struggle to pull the bodies out from the mangled vehicles. Fire brigade personnel were called to bring out the bodies of the victims from the SUV.
On learning about the incident, relatives of the victims rushed to the spot.
PTI