At least six people were killed on the spot and three others sustained serious injuries in a road accident involving a lorry and a passenger vehicle near Balgar in Arabail Ghat under Yellapur taluk of Karnataka, approximately 450 km north of Bengaluru, late Wednesday night.
According to police, all the deceased were residents of Dharwad and worked as part-time delivery personnel for a food-delivery application in the Hubballi-Dharwad region. They were reportedly travelling to Dharmasthala and other pilgrimage centres when the accident occurred.
The victims have been identified as Basavaraj (48), Abhishek Eshwar (28), Akshay (26), Abhishek (26), Manjunath Chulaki (32), and the driver of the vehicle, Sanjeev Angadi (33).
Police said the group had left Dharwad at around 11 pm. When their vehicle reached Balgar in the Arabail Ghat stretch, it collided head-on with a lorry, leading to the instant death of all six occupants.
Three others who were travelling in the vehicle sustained critical injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they are currently undergoing treatment.
A case has been registered at the Yellapur Police Station, and further investigation into the incident is underway.
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