Bengaluru: Three pilgrims, who were on a padayatra to Dharmasthala from Bengaluru, were killed on the spot and one person injured after a tanker hit them at Kunigal bypass road on the outskirts of Kunigal town in Tumakuru district on Sunday.

The deceased are Thammaiah alias Thimme Gowda (36), Gunashekhara (40) and Lokesh (35), residents of Kamalanagar in Bengaluru.

They were part of a group from the area, who were on the padayatra to Dharmasthala and to complete the same, the group used to sleep in the day and walk in the night.

According to the police, there are no streetlights on a narrow stretch on National Highway 75, and the driver might have not noticed the group.

The driver of the tanker is absconding. A case has been registered in Kunigal police station.