The road near Rosario school at Pandeshwara in Mangaluru where two autorickshaw drivers died of electrocution on June 26, 2024. | Photo Credit: MANJUNATH H.S.
Continued rains claimed two more lives in Dakshina Kannada district of coastal Karnataka on June 26 taking the total death toll in rain-related incidents to six.
Two autorickshaw drivers died due to electrocution near Rosario school in Mangaluru city on June 26 night.
Their names are Raju (50), son of Anne Gowda, Pallya hobli, Alur, Hassan district, and Devaraj (46), son of Veerappa Gowda, Ramakunja village, Puttur taluk in Dakshina Kannada.
Both the drivers lived in a rented room near Rosario church, Police Commissioner Anupam Agarwal informed on June 27. They came in contact with a snapped electricity supply line that had fallen on the road, around 9 p.m. on June 26. The power line fell following heavy rain.
Raju came in contact with the power line first when he came out of his room. Hearing Raju scream for help, Devaraj came out and tried to save him using a gunny bag. Both died on the spot.
Earlier, police thought that the incident took place early on June 27. But when checked the CCTV camera footage, they learnt that the incident took place on June 26 night at 9 p.m., the Police Commissioner informed. None of the neighbours seem to have noticed the incident due to a heavy downpour on June 26 night.
Early on June 26, four members of a family died at Kuttar Madaninagara in Ullal taluk, on the outskirts of Mangaluru, after the revetment wall of the neighbouring house, which was on an elevation, came crashing down on their tiled house along with two arecanut palms.
On June 26 night, a portion of a retaining wall of a masjid at New Padpu in Harekala village on the outskirts of Mangaluru collapsed. No one was injured in the incident, and the masjid building was not damaged.
A portion of a retaining wall of a masjid at New Padpu, in Harekala village on the outskirts of Mangaluru, collapsed at night following heavy rain in Dakshina Kannada district of coastal Karnataka, on June 26, 2024. No one was injured in the incident, and the masjid building was not damaged. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Schools and anganwadis remained closed in Dakshina Kannada on June 27 due to rains.
Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) and India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for the coastal belt for June 27.
