3 dead and 4 injured in accident at temple festival

Vijayapura: Three people were killed and about four injured in an accident near Kuntoji village in Muddebihal taluk, about 80 kilometres from the district headquarters, around midnight on Thursday.

The incident occurred around 11.30 pm on the Muddebihal-Talikoti state highway when a motorcycle at high speed rammed into a group of pedestrians participating in the Basaveshwara Jatre temple festival.

The religious and cultural activities of the event had attracted a large number of villagers.

Police told Deccan Chronicle that Ningaraj, who was riding the motorcycle with Anil as pillion, lost control and collided with six or seven pedestrians.

Ningaraj, Anil and pedestrian Uday Kumar died. Several others were injured, one person is in critical condition and is currently being treated at a private hospital in Bagalkot.

A case has been registered and further investigations are ongoing.

There had previously been rumors that the incident was caused by careless driving, but police confirmed that the actual cause was reckless driving.