Watch: Scary video of ambulance accident in Karnataka surfaces online, 4 dead

A heart wrenching video went viral where four people died after a speeding ambulance overturned after hitting a pole at the Shiroor toll gate near Bhatkal in Karnataka's Uttara Kannada district. According to the police, the ambulance was shifting the patients from Honnavar town to Kundapur. The driver of the ambulance lost control as soon as he reached the toll plaza and hit a pole following which the vehicle overturned. The toll booth also got damaged in the accident while the staff sustained injuries. They are being treated at a hospital.

#WATCH | Karnataka: Four people were injured after a speeding ambulance toppled at a toll gate, near Byndoor. The Ambulance was carrying a patient to Honnavara. Further details are awaited.

(Source: CCTV) pic.twitter.com/M3isDaX7Eg

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2022

The police later rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the hospital. The wife of the patient also died in the accident. One of the persons in the ambulance succumbed to injuries in the hospital. The deceased persons are yet to be identified.

The visuals of the accident caught on the CCTV have gone viral on the social media. As seen in the video, an ambulance was speeding to shift patient to the hospital and was probably using sirens that alerted toll staff to understand an ambulance is approaching. 

The staff soon rushed to remove barriers from the lane, to let the ambulance pass smoothly. These barriers are placed to stop unauthorized vehicles from passing through a toll-free lane. There was also a cow sitting right in the middle of the lane which the toll staff tried to shoo away.

However, seeing all these activities happening and realizing that the ambulance might hit the cow or the barrier, the driver may have pressed the brake in panic. As seen in the video, it was raining at the moment and the road was wet, resulting in low friction. All this led to ambulance skidding at a high speed as soon as it entered the toll lane. The rear door of the ambulance opened and it hit a toll attendant. 

It's hard to put someone at fault here as ambulance movement is not a regular affair and hence most of the toll operators keep the toll-free lane closed until an exempted vehicle approaches the toll. The two key problem areas here was the speed of the ambulance and the cow sitting right in the centre of the lane. 

(With inputs from agencies) 

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