BANGALORE: Two toddlers were killed in separate accidents in the city. Around 8.30am on Wednesday, two-and-a-half year-old Dhanushri, who was sitting on the fuel tank of a motorcycle driven by her uncle, was killed after a mini-truck hit the bike near Hoodi Circle, off KR Puram. Her five-month pregnant mother was riding pillion.
Suresh, the rider, and Nagalakshmi, the mother, survived the accident with injuries. Suresh said they were going to the Ayyappa temple in KR Puram, where Nagalakshmi’s husband, also Suresh, was waiting for them. Nagalakshmi’s husband runs a provision store in Whitefield and was to go on a pilgrimage to the temple town of Sabarimala on Wednesday night. The family was slated to take part in special prayers at the temple.
“The mini-truck driver was honking continuously for right of way, but because the road was in a bad shape and the toddler was on the bike, I did not accelerate. But when I did give him way and moved to the left, he too swerved left, ramming our motorcycle,” Suresh said. Both the mother and child were thrown on to the road and the truck ran over the child.
Nagalakshmi, who suffered a head injury, was taken to Nimhans. She is stable and out of danger. Sources also said that her fetus is unharmed. Locals, meanwhile, caught truck driver Kumaraswamy and handed him over to the police. KR Puram traffic police have registered a case.
A group of angry residents conducted a rasta roko and protested against the accident. They also set ablaze a few tyres before police intervened.
Water tanker runs over toddler
Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, a one-and-a-half year-old baby girl, was mowed down by a reversing water tanker in Maruthi Nagar, near Kogilu Gate, Yelahanka.
Aliya Sultana, the younger daughter of Babu, who hails from a small village in Yadgir district, was being given a bath by her grandmother in front of their house. When the woman went in to fetch soap, the child stepped on to the road. A reversing water tanker ran over Aliya as the driver did not notice her. Babu works as a truck driver in the city and had lost his wife three months ago.
The tanker driver abandoned the vehicle on the spot and fled from the scene. He is still absconding.
