KARWAR: Eight members of a family were killed on the spot after their multiutility vehicle (MUV) collided head-on with a truck on National Highway-63 at Arabail Ghat near Yellapur on Wednesday. The victims, including the MUV driver, three children and three women, were returning from Kukke Subramanya Temple.The family from Rai bag in Belagavi district had started their trip to the temple town on Sunday. After performing pooja, they left Subramanya on Tuesday night. It is suspected that driver Mujahid Iqbal Naykawadi, 32, dozed off and lost control of the vehicle and rammed it with the truck coming from the opposite direction. The truck was heading towards Ankola, police said.The victims have been identified as Vaishnavi Vivek Ghatage, 5, Abhinav Chandrakanth Kamble, 3, Varadaraj Vivek Ghatage, 1, Sachin Madhukar Jandenavar, 28, Vivek Vasanth Ghatage, 34, Renuka Chandrakanth Kamble, 30, Gouravva Vasanth Metri, 58 and Menaka Vivek Ghatage, 28.Gajanan Bapu Metri, 27, who survived the accident, was rushed to a hospital in Hubballi where his condition is stated to be critical. The family is said to be related to Raibag MLA Shyam Ghatage. Yellapur police helped in removing the bodies stuck inside the MUV. Arabail Ghat road has many hairpin curves and is a difficult terrain for drivers. Residents claimed that most accidents occur here when he drivers try to negotiate the curves. They demand ed that the area be made one-way by placing dividers on NH-63.

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