BENGALURU: What should have been a joyous occasion turned into a tragedy when four people were killed on the spot and five severely injured after their speeding SUV toppled over at Handarahalli village near Devanahalli on Saturday.
The group was headed to Nandi Hills to celebrate a birthday when the accident occurred. Over-speeding is said to be the cause. Police are not ruling out that the group was under the influence of alcohol, but are awaiting medical reports.
The deceased are Mallikarjun Reddy (26), Nagarjun (25), Ashok Reddy (26) and Sundar (24). Their friends Ramesh, Manjunath, Raghunath, Ashok Bagepalli and Girish were shifted to a private hospital in Hosakote and their condition is said to be stable.
While some of them lived in the city, others lived in Sidlaghatta and Bagepalli.
A senior police officer from Chennarayapatana police station said that the accident occurred around 3.30 am and that the group of nine were in a Mahindra Xylo car. Mallikarjun Reddy decided to take his friends on an outing for his birthday, and Ashok Reddy was behind the wheel.
He lost control of the vehicle and it toppled over. Ravi D Channannavar, SP, Bengaluru Rural, inspected the spot.
Raghunath, who gave a statement, said Ashok had borrowed the vehicle from the travel agency he worked at. A case has been registered against him.