A total of 40 passengers sustained injuries, some of them critically, after a private bus collided with a truck and plunged off a bridge on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway (NH-44) in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district in the early hours of Sunday, police said.
The accident occurred near Pogururu village in Pamidi mandal around 4 am when the Hyderabad–Bengaluru Volvo bus belonging to November Travels, was crossing the Pogururu bridge.
“The bus rammed into an Eicher truck, and as a result, both vehicles fell off the bridge, leaving them severely damaged,” an officer from Pamidi police station told local reporters.
He said passengers, many of whom were trapped inside the mangled bus, cried out for help. The bus driver was among those seriously injured and was trapped inside the vehicle.
Even as the local people tried to pull the injured passengers from the bus, the police rushed to the spot along with rescue teams and an excavator to take up rescue operations. “With the help of the excavator, we managed to extricate the bus driver after a prolonged operation,” the police said.
The injured were pulled out of the wreckage and initially shifted to the Pamidi government hospital. Those with serious injuries were later referred to the Government Hospital in Anantapur for advanced treatment.
{{/usCountry}}The injured were pulled out of the wreckage and initially shifted to the Pamidi government hospital. Those with serious injuries were later referred to the Government Hospital in Anantapur for advanced treatment.
{{/usCountry}}“Around 10 passengers are in critical condition, while at least three are reported to be in a very serious state,” the police officer said. The police cleared the wreckage and regulated traffic flow.
A case has been registered under Section 125(A) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for causing injuries through rash and negligent driving. Authorities have launched an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the accident, with factors such as driver error, speeding, and road conditions under examination.