BENGALURU: Two women, who were walking on the road, died on the spot after an electricity pole fell on them near Suddaguntepalya near Byappanahalli, after an excavator accidentally hit the pole during road construction work that was in progress.
The Byappanahalli police visited the spot and are investigating the incident. The victims have been identified as Sumathi (35) and Soni Kumari (35). Soni was four months pregnant while Sumati worked as a security guard and had two children. The incident occurred while dropping her son off for tuition around 4 pm on Monday.
The police are questioning the JCB driver and others involved in the road construction work to determine the cause of the accident. The excavator operator’s negligence is said to be the cause of this tragedy as he was wearing headphones while working and didn’t hear the warnings from the people around.
The front bucket of the excavator touched a wire connected to a house from an electricity pole. It is alleged that the driver did not hear the people shouting, but he pulled the wire when the pole fell on them. The police have seized the excavator and arrested the operator Rajkumar. A case has been registered at the Byappanahalli police station.