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Eight killed, 33 injured as two trucks hit bus in Chittoor distt
A bus accident in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, killed 8 pilgrims and injured 33 when it collided with two trucks. Rescue efforts are underway.
At least eight people were killed and 33 others sustained injuries when their bus collided with a heavy truck and was hit by another from behind in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district on Friday afternoon, the police said.
The accident took place at Moghili ghat road of Bangarupalem block on Chittoor-Bengaluru national expressway (NE-7) around 4 pm. The deceased, believed to be pilgrims from Bengaluru, were returning from Tirupati.
A police official who wished to say anonymous said that the identity of the victims is yet to be ascertained and added that the bus belonged to the AP state road transport corporation of Alipiri depot of Tirupati town.
According to the police, the accident took place when the bus was negotiating a turn on the ghat road. “A heavy truck loaded with iron rods came at a high speed and rammed into the bus. Within seconds, another truck coming from behind lost control as well and hit the bus,” the police official said.
The double collision badly mutilated the bus, causing grievous injuries to the inmates. “There were more than 40 passengers in the bus. Eight of them died on the spot and 33 passengers are hurt,” the police said.
The other travellers passing on the road quickly came to the rescue of the injured passengers and informed the police. Within a few minutes, the police teams and four ambulances from Palamaner, Bangarupalem and Chittoor rushed to the spot and took up the rescue operation shifting the injured to the government hospital in Palamaner.
Some of the critically injured people were also shifted to Bengaluru and Vellore for further treatment.
“The condition of some of them is said to be critical,” the police official said.
The police have registered a case of accident and started an investigation into the incident.
Chittoor district collector Sumit Kumar and superintendent of police, Manikantha Chandolu, called on the injured at the Palamaner hospital. “On the instructions from chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, we shall pay an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh to each of the families of the deceased,” Sumit Kumar said.
The chief minister expressed shock over the incident and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families. He directed the district authorities to see that the injured get the best treatment.
State transport minister M Ramprasad Reddy also expressed his grief over the accident, saying that the government stands by the families of the accident victims.
