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Four Of Family Killed In Mishap

Aparna Narayanan

The funeral services of four people who died in a car accident on Monday will be held at 10 am on December 25 at Wages & Sons Funeral Home in Stone Mountain city.

Raja and Bharthi Lulla, a business couple from Atlanta, and four family members, were traveling to Orlando in Florida for a break after the wedding of their son about two weeks ago. But an accident on Interstate 75 near Macon, 100 miles from Atlanta, claimed four of them.

Bharthi Lulla, who was driving a Ford Explorer, reportedly swerved to avoid a truck on the expressway and hit the median, causing the car to somersault three or four times. Three of the passengers, who were family members -- Girdhar Rajani, Hari Belani and Poonam Belani -- were killed there.

Bharthi Lulla was in her late 40s. The ages and other details of others were not available.

One victim was flung so far away that helicopter help was sought to locate the body, friends of the family said.

Bharthi Lulla was taken to The Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon and put on an artificial respirator. She died at night.

Raja Lulla, owner of Texas Sari Sapne in Atlanta, was sitting in the front passenger seat at the time of the accident but escaped with a shoulder injury and bruises on his arms. His sister suffered minor neck injuries and has been discharged from the hospital.

"They were very nice people," said Subash Razdan, chairman of the National Federation of Indian-Americans Association trustees. "They were known in the community." There are about 40,000 Indians in Atlanta.

Lulla has organized several community events and entertainment shows in Atlanta, Razdan said.

He hoped emergency visas would be given to the family's immediate relatives in India to attend the funeral.

"The incident is horrifying," said Deepa Dharamrup, a family friend. "It's very hard to cope with someone dying so suddenly, especially losing four people from one family."

According to Razdan, the Lullas had left an exit on the expressway and exchanged front seats only a couple of minutes before the accident.

Dharamrup said, "Bharthi, who was driving the car, may have lost control. She was not used to driving on a highway."

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