GREAT LOSS: The van that met with an accident near Channapatna. (Right) Grieving family members of the victims at the Channapatna Government Hospital. — Photos: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Bangalore: A family of nine died when their van careened into a bus on Sunday afternoon on the Bangalore-Mysore Road.

The Channapatna Rural police, who have registered a case, told The Hindu that the victims were on their way to Mandya to visit one of their relatives who had just had a baby.

The names of the dead were given as Thimmamma (65), her daughter Venkatalakshmi (48), daughter-in-law Bhagya (40), Bhagya's daughter Soumya (20), sister Manjula (50), her daughter Sunita (35), Sunita's husband Nagendra (40), their daughter Nisha (4) and driver Prashanth (24).

The police said that the accident occurred around 1 p.m. when their driver, also a family member, tried to avoid a dog. It later emerged that the dog was already dead.

Technical snag

"The van was at 100 km per hour. Due to a technical snag, the driver lost control over the car which ploughed through the divider, shot through the air and slammed into a bus in the opposite lane," said circle inspector Chaluva Raju.

The private bus, which was on its way to Bangalore from Mysore, was also going at 100 km per hour.

"In the collision, six persons in the car were killed on the spot. One died on the way to the district government hospital. Two persons died while they were being shifted to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore," he said.

The driver of the private bus and 22 passengers were injured.

The driver is being treated at a private hospital in Channapatna.

The police said that one of the passengers lost a part of his tongue when he bit on it. A few had head injuries though most suffered only minor injuries.

"No action will be taken against the driver. It was not his fault," Mr. Raju said.

Relatives of the victims arrived at the district hospital in hordes as soon as the news spread.

One of them, Shanta Kumar, said that they got to know of the accident around 2 p.m.

"What can we say now? An entire family has just died. We arrived as soon as we heard about it," he said.

Contrary to the police statement, Mr. Kumar said that the family, all residents of Hanumanthnagar, Katriguppe and Girinagar, were on their way to visit a sick relative.

"We never imagined that such a thing could happen. I saw them off at Bangalore."

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