3 of a family, two students die in horrific crash near Magadi

Three of a family and two engineering students from the city were killed when an SUV crashed into a bus shelter on NH 75 near Magadi, Bengaluru Rural district, on Thursday evening. The students were part of a five-member group that had set out to Savandurga Hills from JP Nagar.

The students hired a silver Mahindra Scorpio from Zoomcar, an automobile rental firm.

Upon reaching Bychapura village near Lakkenahalli, about 56 km from Bengaluru, they came across a deep curve. Shubham, who was at the wheel, lost control of the car and crashed it into a bus shelter, about 20 feet away from the highway, police said.

Kemparaju (40), his wife Mamatha K and two children, Lavanya K (11) and Sanjay K (2), had stopped by the bus shelter. The family was riding a motorcycle to their native village, Muthugadahalli, Turuvekere, Tumakuru district. Kemparaju had decided to pull in as his children felt hungry and wanted to eat.

The crash turned catastrophic. The speeding car crashed into the family, killing Kemparaju, Lavanya and Sanjay on the spot and critically injuring Mamatha. Two of the students — Sajjan and Navaneet Upadhyay — also died while Shubham, Abdur Rahman and another student were wounded. The wounded were taken to the government hospital in Nelamangala where Mamatha is battling for her life, police added.

The students are from the city’s HKBK College of Engineering. Sajjan and Upadhyay were from Nagavara. Kemparaju’s family lived in Yediyur.

2,140 cases registered

Underage and student motorists from Bengaluru have been increasingly hitting highways, NICE roads and the outer ring road.

The traffic police registered 2,140 cases of reckless and rash driving in the first eight months of this year. Of them, 1,340 cases were registered against minors.