Andhra: 10 killed as bus falls into canal, many still trapped inside wreckage

Police say the bus driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed the bus

At least ten passengers were killed and 40 injured, many of them seriously, when a private bus fell into a canal after hitting a road divider in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh early Tuesday.

The bus rolled into a canal after crashing into a road divider in Andhra’s Krishna district early Tuesday. (ANI)

Police said the toll could go up as the front portion of the bus was badly mangled and many of the 60 passengers were still trapped inside the wreckage.

The bus was on way to Hyderabad in Telangana from Bhubaneshwar in Odisha when the accident took place at around 5.30am.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the driver, Adinarayana, fell asleep at the wheel and crashed the bus in a road divider after crossing Mullapadu village, around 60km from Vijayawada, sources said.

Most of the passengers, who were from Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad and Vishakapatnam and Srikakulam in Andhra, were sleeping and were thrown off their seats.

Seven people died on the spot while a passenger passed away in nearby Nandigama hospital, where eight of the injured were also being treated.

The remaining injured were shifted to hospitals in Vijaywada.

The bus belonged to Diwakar Travels owned by Telugu Desam Party MP JC Diwakar Reddy.