Two labourers were crushed to death in their sleep in the early hours of Saturday when a truck laden with sand ploughed into an abandoned house in which they had taken shelter for the summer.
The building was on one side of National Highway 207 in Bodanahoshalli village, near Hoskote. The deceased have been identified as daily wage workers Manjappa, 55, and Raghu, 26, who worked in the area.
According to the police, the accident occurred around 3 a.m. when the driver of the truck, who was allegedly speeding, lost control of the vehicle while manoeuvring a sharp curve. The truck went off the road, and towards the structure. The driver was unable to stop in time and the truck went right through the building. “As it was summer, Manjappa and Raghu, who were friends, had decided to sleep in the abandoned house. They were killed on the spot,” said a police officer.
On impact, the ceiling of the house collapsed on the truck . The truck driver managed to get out of the driver’s cabin and fled. Neighbours, woken up to the sound of the crash, rushed to the spot and informed the Thirumalashettyhalli police.
The police summoned three cranes to extract the truck from the debris. “When we removed the truck, we saw the bodies. The labourers had been trapped under the debris,” a senior police officer said.
The police have registered a case of accidental death caused by rash and negligent driving. The truck driver, who is yet to be identified, has been booked under Section 304(A) of the IPC.
Traffic on the busy highway was disrupted as the police had to cordon off the area and divert vehicles through adjacent roads. It took the authorities over an hour to recover the bodies and clear the debris.