K.R. Pet: Three youths were killed while another sustained serious injuries when the car in which they were travelling fell into a gorge after the person behind the wheels of the vehicle lost control of it near Akkihebbal bridge in the taluk on Saturday night.

While the deceased have been identified as Chiranjivi (21), son of Ashok Kumar of Agrahara Layout and Aniketana (21), son of Bhagavan Coffee Works proprietor Chethan of Basaveshwara Nagar in K.R. Pet Town and Pavan (20), son of Somashekar of Bylakuppe in Periyapatna taluk. The seriously injured is Sagar, son of Vijayakumar of K.R. Pet, who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Mysuru.

All the four were studying in the same college and as it was a holiday, they had come to the town. They were on their way towards Bherya in a Honda City car and were proceeding on the under construction Jalasur-Bengaluru Highway, when the person behind the wheels of the car lost control of the vehicle at the turning which is uneven, resulting in the car falling into the roadside gorge and killing Chiranjivi, Pavan and Aniketana on the spot.

Another youth Sagar, who had sustained serious injuries, was writhing in pain when his family members, who arrived at the accident spot, shifted him to a private hospital in Mysuru where he is undergoing treatment.

K.R. Pet Rural Police, who rushed to the spot, got the car pulled up from the gorge with the help of a crane and shifted the bodies to the mortuary.

Anger against KSHIP

Alleging that the highway works taken up by Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP) were unscientific which resulted in the fatal accident, Taluk Nagarika Hitarakshana Samithi President Naatanahalli Gangadhar said that sign boards have not been installed at turnings and even streetlights are absent.

Pointing out that over 15 persons have sustained injuries on this road since a year, Gangadhar said that the KSHIP should take the responsibility of the accident and provide compensation to the family members of the deceased youths and also install streetlights and sign boards immediately.

Gangadhar has warned of staging protest against KSHIP if it failed to do so.