MANGALURU: The tragic incident of Monday, where a family lost five of its members due to a ghastly accident , could have been avoided had the family known that the Dakshina Kannada district administration had declared a holiday for schools and colleges due to rain.The family was rushing back with the thought of sending their children to school on Monday. The accident saw the family of Beefathima , a resident of KC Road in Thokkottu, lose five of its members and seven others sustain grievous injuries, when the vehicle they were travelling in collided head-on with a lorry. The accident took place at Uppala Naya Bazaar in the early morning hours. The family which went to Palghat for a house-warming ceremony on Sunday, rushed back immediately to Mangaluru, so that the children don’t miss school.According to sources close to the family, 18 of them, including the children, had left for Palghat on Saturday, and reached on Sunday morning to attend the ceremony. In the evening, they decided to head back, so that the children don’t miss school the next day. However, they were not aware that the district administration had declared a holiday due to heavy rains. “Though their host forced them to stay back, but the family did not listen to them, citing school for the children the next day,” a source added. The accident took place just 12 km before reaching their final destination.Preliminary investigations suggested that the tyre of the truck burst, after which its driver lost control over the vehicle, and rammed into the jeep . Beefathima, who also lost her life, was the mother of three sons and five daughters. On Saturday, her fifth daughter Rukiya had invited them for a house-warming ceremony. Except her three sons, the rest had all gone to attend the ceremony.

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