In a gory road accident, 12 migrant workers were killed and two others were critically injured, when the SUV in which they were travelling hit a parked lorry on the outskirts of Chikballapur in Karnataka on Thursday morning (October 26.) Ten of the deceased were believed to be migrant workers from various villages of Gorantla mandal of Sri Sathya Sai district.
According to information, the migrant workers who gathered at the local bus stand corner in Gorantla, boarded an SUV bound for Bengaluru. All were on their return journey to their work spot after the Dasara vacation.
Superintendent of Police (Chikballapur) D. L. Nagesh, who rushed to the accident spot, observed that the accident occurred due to poor visibility following thick fog that engulfed the NH-44. This made the SUV driver crash into the stationary lorry on its way to Nagaland. The impact left seven persons killed on the spot, and five others on their way to the Government Hospital at Chikballapur. A couple from Odisha State, who migrated to Gorantla a couple of years ago, identified as Narayana and Subbamma, was among the killed. Four other injured were rushed to the area hospital in an ambulance. Without any documents or personal details, the police are yet to identify six of the twelve bodies, including three women.
The police officials in Puttaparthi of Sri Sathya Sai district observed that in the recent months several batches of migrant workers from Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts were on their way to Bengaluru and various urban centres of Karnataka State for livelihood. A big chunk of the agricultural labour force also is said to be making its way to Karnataka with dwindling income sources domestically. The police registered a case and took up further investigation.
