Three of a family, including two children, died after the car they were travelling lost control and fell into a lake near Managanahalli near Ramanagar, 30 km from the city on Wednesday evening. A 12-year-old boy had a miraculous escape after passers-by rescued him, the police said. The deceased have been identified as Chidananda Swamy (22), Shashank Gowda (6), and Impana (4).
Dilip Gowda (12) was rushed to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. They were residents of Ganapathinagar in Konanakunte near JP Nagar, the police said.
Bidadi police said the accident occurred around 6.30 p.m. Chidananda Swamy, a B.Com student, had taken his elder sister, Nirguna’s children to their relatives’ house for Deepawali celebrations. They were returning to Konanakunte when the accident happened.
Swamy lost control while taking sharp right turn and the Maruthi Swift car fell into the Muttugadapalya lake. As water entered the car, the two children and Swamy drowned. Dilip opened the door and held on to the car until rescuers noticed him and rushed to his help.
A passer-by who witnessed the mishap alerted the villagers, who informed the Bidadi police. The villagers got into rescue operation. After around 45 minutes of searching, three bodies were recovered along with the car.
Police suspect that over-speeding could have been the cause of the accident. Also, it was dark and the driver would have failed to notice the lake.
The police took a complaint from Nagendra, brother-in-law of Swamy. Further investigations are under-way.
