Landslide at Thokkottu swallows three bikes; local youth turns hero

Mangaluru, Jun 25: A landslide triggered by heavy rainfall created a deadly gorge, which swallowed three motorbikes within a second at the pavement in front of bar and restaurant in Thokkottu on the outskirts of the city last night.

The people inside the Maya Bar and locals screamed in fear when the land caved in before their eyes making a huge noise at around 11 p.m. A few boozers inside the bar said that they thought it was a bomb blast carried out by terrorists.

Fortunately, the incident did not cause any reported loss of life or injury as those who had parked motorbikes at the pavement had already entered the bar.

Lucky escape

A Honda Activa, a Bajaj Avenger and a Honda Dio belonging to Anil, Danny and Ozzy respectively, were fallen into the suddenly opened well and buried under the mud when the land caved in.

A few minutes before the incident, the place was crowded with people, local residents said.

A team of police from jurisdictional Ullal police station rushed to the spot and they also called fire brigade immediately. However, they could do nothing but preventing the bike owners from approaching the crater.

A crane also was brought to the spot to lift the buried vehicles. However, the fire fighters hesitated to entre the crater. Meanwhile, a local youth identified as Manoj came forward to lead the operation.

Though he had no training, Manoj fearlessly entered the crater after getting permission from Ullal police inspector and managed to lift all the three vehicles through crane.

Covered well

According to local residents and regular visitors at the bar, there was well in front of the Maya Bar. During the highway widening, the well was closed and a pavement was created on the same spot.

They accused the bar owners of not properly filling the old well with mud while creating a pavement on it. “Instead of filling the empty space with soil, they covered the well with a concrete layer and then same space was converted into a parking lot for the bar visitors,” said a local resident.