Hunsur/Mysuru: Three of a family were killed as their vehicle collided with a moving truck near Hunsur in the wee hours of today. The 17-member family was on a pleasure trip to Ooty from Mangaluru and the tragedy landed some of them in hospitals and the condition of three persons are said to be serious.

According to the Police and the family members, 17 members including eight men and nine women started from Mangaluru yesterday evening in a Tempo Traveller (KA-19-D-8939) operated by Manasa Travels  in Mangaluru. After a night of driving, the family stopped near Bannikuppe near Hunsur for tea and refreshments. They were supposed to reach Ooty today afternoon.

They started from the tea stall at around 4.30 am and reached Basarikatte on the Mysuru-Bantwal National Highway. Twenty-two-year-old Deepak who was driving the Tempo Traveller overtook a speeding truck that was heading towards Mysuru. He was about to overtake another truck when a vehicle coming from the opposite direction flashed its lights. Deepak, who was speeding too, lost control of his vehicle and hit the truck that he was about to overtake.

The impact of the accident was such that the front portion of the Tempo Traveller was mangled and 47-year-old Abdul Hameed and 38-year-old Mohammad Iqbal were killed on the spot while 11-year-old Sheik Akheel died while being shifted to a hospital. Local residents and other vehicle users had a tough time in pulling out the bodies. They then opened the back door and managed to bring out the injured from the vehicle.

All other 14 members of the family and the driver sustained injuries and three of them are said to be critical. They have been admitted to Pralaksha Hospital at Hootagalli.

Superintendent of Police Ravi D. Channannavar, DySP Bhaskar Rai, Hunsur Inspector K.C. Poovaiah, Bilikere PSI Naveen Gowda, Ningarajappa and Prasad visited the spot and helped in getting the injured admitted to the hospital.