Seven burnt alive as tanker overturns, explodes on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway

Mangaluru: A teenage boy from a remote village in Dakshina Kannada district, who was undergoing treatment for stomach pain for past few days, breathed his last after hospitalization. 

The deceased has been identified as Nithin Kumar, 19, who had completed PUC and was attending computer classes. 

According to police, on May 4, when he informed his family that he had been suffering from a stomach-ache for the past 4-5 days, his family members took him to a clinic in Kaniyoor.

The doctors who examined him advised him to undergo scanning. He was informed about a kidney stone and later, they returned home. That same night, he suffered from stomach-ache again and was rushed to a private hospital in Puttur.

On May 7, as per doctors’ advice, he was discharged around 12:45pm. However, when he came home around 2:30pm, he again suffered from stomach-ache and was taken to another private hospital in Puttur, where doctors conducted a surgery.

On Wednesday, as per doctors’ advice, he was asked to be shifted to Mangaluru for better treatment.

He visited a private hospital in Derakatte, where doctors suggested that he be shifted to government Wenlock Hospital.

The doctors who examined him at the Wenlock Hospital declared him dead. A case has been registered at the Bellare police station, and an investigation is on.

Mangaluru, May 4: The Mangaluru International Airport was besieged with a harrowing message of terror recently, when an email, purportedly from malevolent elements, menacingly declared the planting of bombs within the airport premises. 

Addressed to the office of the airport authority, the missive, steeped in ominous overtones, bore the ominous signature of a terrorist faction, ominously named 'Terrorizers 111'.

The communication, disseminated in English, ominously detailed the clandestine emplacement of explosives in areas eluding facile detection, accompanied by a chilling warning of their imminent detonation. The threat, ominously looming over not only the infrastructure but also the airborne vessels, portended a catastrophic deluge of bloodshed and loss.

In response to this dire communiqué, airport authorities swiftly engaged the apparatus of law enforcement, dispatching urgent alerts to the vigilant guardians of public safety. Acting upon the dictates of higher echelons, a formal dossier of this menacing correspondence was meticulously compiled, cloaked in the veil of confidentiality to thwart any premature dissemination.

Mangaluru International Airport found itself in grim camaraderie with more than 30 counterparts under the aegis of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and private domains, all recipients of this chilling electronic diatribe. A comprehensive net of precautionary measures was swiftly cast, fortifying the bastions of security in anticipation of any nefarious designs lurking within the shadows.

Mangaluru: The Bengaluru-Mangaluru air route has recently surpassed the Mumbai route to become the busiest for Mangaluru International Airport.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s city pairing data for March this year, 51,734 passengers travelled between Mangaluru and Bengaluru, while 50,340 passengers flew on the Mangaluru-Mumbai route.

In January and February, the Mumbai air route had the highest passenger flow with 60,306 and 52,732 passengers, respectively, compared to 53,509 and 47,530 for Bengaluru during the same months. However, the trend shifted in March, with the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route surpassing Mumbai.

An official from MIA explained, “The first reason for Bengaluru taking over Mumbai is that flights that almost fly full to Mumbai were reduced from March, after the ministry of civil aviation suggested easing air traffic congestion at Mumbai airport. The air carrier IndiGo, which used to operate four flights a day from MIA, reduced it to three. Air India Express, which operates two flights a day, has made no changes. As a result of this, Bengaluru has taken over Mumbai. A total seven flights operates per day to Bengaluru.” 

The official added that despite the reduction in flights, the Mumbai route still experiences high demand. DGCA data for 2023 shows that the Mumbai and Bengaluru sectors have experienced growth of 11.9% and 19.3%, respectively.

The Mangaluru-Mumbai sector has seen a total of 5,52,767 passengers, followed by Bengaluru with 5,52,500 passengers in the same calendar year.