Erratic application of brakes is suspected to be one of the main reasons for the fall of the temple car during the annual Shri Guru Kottureshwara car festival at Kottur in Kudligi taluk of the district on Tuesday. To control speed, four persons apply handheld brakes.
“Prima facie, it appears that the temple car fell due to erratic application of brakes. The exact reason will be known after investigation,” Vijay Dambal, Additional Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu.

Around nine persons sustained injuries in the incident. The condition of one person is said to be serious.

“Going by the gravity of the situation, there should have been many casualties. Luckily, nobody died as police officers around the car raised an alarm on seeing it tilting,” a senior police official said. Enquiries revealed that the car was inspected by the PWD, which is mandatory, before permitting it to be pulled during the fair.