Reunion plan ended in tragedy as 11 lost lives in road accident

A planned reunion in Goa ending on a tragic note. All of them being girl students of 1989 batch from Saint Paul's School at Devangere, now in their mid-40s, constituted the group travelling in the ill-fated mini-bus that collided with a tipper-lorry at Itigatti village near the city on Friday, claiming their lives.

The former had planned a three-day sojourn to Goa and visit places of tourist attraction. Two of them had taken their daughters along. According to police, 14 had left for Davangere in the van in the morning.

While 13 of them hailed from the district headquarters town of Davanagere, one was from Bengaluru. They were on the way to pick up their former classmate from Dharwad when the accident happened, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Preethi Ravikumar (46), Manjula Natesh G B (47), Paramjyothi Hunchur (47), Varshita (47), Rajeshwar Bandammanavar (46), Dr Veena Prakash Mattihalli (47), Ksheera Sureshbabu Poral (21), Hemalatha (48), Yashmitha (20) and mini-bus driver Raju Gorabannavar and cleaner Millikarjun Udagatti (27).

The police said two of the injured were in a critical state. One of them, Veda, has been airlifted and admitted to a hospital in Bengaluru for treatment. One of their classmates who had visited the hospital said the trip was planned a week ago during a meeting in Davanagere. Police have registered a case in this regard and have started investigations.