Five members of a family were killed on the spot and eight others suffered grievous injuries in the early hours of Wednesday when a vehicle in which they were travelling met with an accident between Sutgatti and Udakeri under Dodwad police station limits of Bailhongal taluk in, about 65 km from Belgaum city.
According to Dodwad Sub Inspector S.V. Naik, the accident occurred around 3 a.m. after the driver lost control of the utility vehicle due to over-speeding and drowsiness. The ill-fated vehicle rolled and turned on the single-lane road.
The deceased have been identified as Suresh Annappa Kolkar (42), Bharati Krishna Kolkar (35), Shyamala Nagappa Kolkar (55), Laxmi Parasappa Kolkar (38) and Raju Parasram Mageri (25). The driver of the vehicle Raju Gundu Patil is among eight persons injured in the accident.
The injured were first admitted to government hospital at Bailhongal town. Owing to grievous nature of injuries, they were referred to district government hospital in Belgaum.
All the victims were relatives and returning to their native Halsi of Khanapur taluk after paying their obeisance to Godess Renuka Devi at Saundatti-Yellamma hill on Tuesday. A case has been registered with the Dodwad police station. The bodies would be handed over to their kin after the post-mortem, Mr.Naik said.
