Five members of a family were killed when their car fell into an irrigation canal in Kadabi village near Saundatti in Belagavi district on Monday night.
The dead were identified as Fakiravva Pujari (29), Hanumant Pujari (60), Lagamanna Pujari (38), Paravva Pujari (50) and Lakshmi Pujari (40). They were all from Kadabi village in Belagavi district.
The driver Adiveppa Malagi swam to safety.
The police said that the car fell into the canal after the driver lost control of the vehicle in the evening. Three of the commuters died inside the car and two bodies were thrown out of the vehicle into the canal.
It is possible that they were trying to get out of the vehicle when they died, said a police officer.
The family members were returning from the funeral of a relative.
The police retrieved the bodies by Wednesday morning. “We had requested Irrigation Department officials to stop the flow of water in the canal. With the reduced flow, we could find the bodies. We had put up nets at several places. Expert divers were pressed into service,” Superintendent of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy said. A case has been registered in the Murgod Police Station.
