4 Karnataka pilgrims killed, 6 hurt in SUV-truck crash en route to Shirdi

SOLAPUR: In a tragic incident, at least four pilgrims from Karnataka were killed and another 6, including a toddler, injured when their SUV rammed into container truck on the Karmala-Ahmednagar Road on Wednesday, police said.

The tragedy occurred near Pande village around 6 am when the vehicle from Karnataka was speeding from Gulbarga via Solapur towards the famed Shri Saibaba Temple of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, as its occupants slept inside.

As per initial information, the SUV crashed into an oncoming container truck with full force and so powerful was the impact that it was thrown into a ditch beside the road and overturned, trapping many of the occupants.

Hearing the screams of the survivors, local villagers rushed to the spot and helped them out, even as a team of Karmala police led by Jyotiram Ganjwate reached the tragedy site, and saw the SUV was virtually reduced to a heap of metal.

While at least four pilgrims had succumbed on the spot, another six injured have been admitted to the Karmala Sub-District Hospital, where the condition of two is described as critical.

The victims have been identified as: Sharda Hiremath, 67 of Hubli, Jemi Deepak Hiremath, 38 of Gulbarga, Srishal Chandaga Kumbhar, 55, and his wife Sashikala, 50.

The injured include an eight-month-old Nakshatra V. Kumbhar, Kaveri V. Kumbhar, Soumya S. Kumbhar, 26, Sridhar Srishal Kumbhar, 24, Sasikumar T. Kumbhar, 36, and Shrikant R. Chavan, 27.

The cause of the road disaster is not clear and the Karmala police have registered an accident case with further investigations underway. The families of the deceased victims, all in Gulbarga district of Karnataka have been informed of the tragedy, while the bodies have been sent for an autopsy.