Five women labourers were charred to death when an autorickshaw which they were travelling in caught fire after a high-tension electric wire fell on it in Andhra Pradesh’s Satya Sai district on Thursday, police said.
The incident happened near Chillakondaiah Palli village of Tadimarri block around 7 am when a live wire from a high-tension pole fell on the autorickshaw carrying as many as 12 women farm labourers.
“Within seconds, the entire vehicle went in flames. Some of the passengers, including the driver, jumped out of the vehicle, others were caught in flames and were charred to death,” Tadimarri sub-inspector police D Laxminarayana told HT.
Police rushed to the spot and took up the rescue operations with the help of locals and revenue staff. “We could recover five bodies so far. Seven other women received burn injuries. We have shifted them to Dharmavaram government hospital,” he said.
The victims were identified – Kumari (35), Ratnamma (35), Lakshmi Devi (32), Ramulamma (35) and Kantamma (32). “All the women labourers were coming from Guddampalli village to take part in sowing works in the adjacent village,” Lakshminarayana said.
Though initially it was believed that an iron cot placed atop the autorickshaw got in touch with the live wire resulting in the accident, an investigation by electricity department authorities later revealed that the live wire got snapped due to a squirrel that mounted the electric pole.
{{/usCountry}}Though initially it was believed that an iron cot placed atop the autorickshaw got in touch with the live wire resulting in the accident, an investigation by electricity department authorities later revealed that the live wire got snapped due to a squirrel that mounted the electric pole.
{{/usCountry}}Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd (South Discom) chairman and managing director H Harinath Rao said a squirrel mounted the electric pole and got in touch with the live wire. “While the squirrel died, the wire got snapped due to short circuit and fell on the autorickshaw coming on the road,” Rao said.
He said he had directed Anantapuram circle superintending engineer to make further inquiries and submit a report to the government.
Rao announced that from the APSPDCL side, an amount of ₹5 lakh would be paid to the families of each of the deceased and ₹2 lakh to the kin of each of the injured.
The Andhra Pradesh government also announced another ₹10 lakh to each of the kin of the deceased. Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is in Paris, expressed shock over the accident and directed the authorities to provide ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.
Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan also expressed anguish over the loss of lives in the accident. He directed the district administration to provide better medical care to those injured in the incident and offered his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members.