Over-speeding car falls off flyover on passers-by in Hyderabad; 1 killed

While many people managed to run away when the car fell on the tree, the 40-year-old woman, who was waiting for an auto rickshaw along with her daughter could not escape. She was crushed under the overturned car.

A 47-year old woman was killed and three others, including her daughter, were injured when a speeding car fell on them off an adjacent flyover near the busy IT corridor in Hyderabad’s upscale Gachibowli on Saturday afternoon, the police said.

The car was broken into pieces under the impact. Two other cars which were parked adjacent to the bus stop also got damaged in the accident as well(HT photo)

The deceased was identified as Satyaveni and was a resident of Tadepalligudem in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district. Her daughter Praneetha and another person Balaraju received serious injuries and were immediately shifted to a corporate hospital nearby. The car was being driven by Krishna Neelan, who escaped with minor injuries.

The body of Satyaveni was shifted to Osmania General Hospital for post mortem.

The incident happened at around 1.04 pm on Saturday, when the car (a Volkswagen), travelling from Biodiversity junction towards Mindspace on the recently-opened flyover between Mindspace Junction and Khajaguda, lost control at the sharp curve and fell off the bridge after hitting the railing.

“The car, travelling at a speed of over 104 km per hour, lost control at the sharp curve of the flyover, hit the railing and fell off the bridge. First, if fell on tree with a loud sound and then on the passers-by under the tree,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) of Cyberabad S M Vijay Kumar said.

While many people managed to run away when the car fell on the tree, Satyaveni, who was waiting for an auto rickshaw along with her daughter, could not escape. She was crushed under the overturned car. Her daughter and others were caught under the tree branches and received injuries, Raidurgam police inspector S Ravinder said.

The car was broken into pieces under the impact. Two other cars which were parked adjacent to the bus stop also got damaged in the accident as well.

Cyberabad police commissioner VC Sajjanar inspected the accident spot. Hyderabad Mayor Bonthu Rammohan, who also visited the accident area, announced ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased. He also asked the doctors at Care Hospitals to provide the best possible treatment to the injured.

The Mayor announced that the flyover would be closed for three days to take speed control measures.

This is the second major accident on the flyover since it was inaugurated on November 4 by state municipal administration and IT minister K T Rama Rao. On November 10, two youths died on the spot and four others sustained injuries when a techie driving in an inebriated condition, rammed his car into a bike on the flyover. The youths - S Sai Vamsi and Vijaya Kumar – who were travelling on the bike, stopped and were taking selfies on the flyover. As the car hit them, they fell off the flyover and died instantly.

The 990-meter long unidirectional flyover was constructed as part of the state government’s Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP), at a cost of Rs 69.47 crore.

IT minister K R Rama Rao expressed anguish over the incident. “Distressed to hear about today’s accident on Biodiversity flyover. Prima facie it appears to be the result of over speeding; have directed GHMC engineer-in-chief and @cpcybd to close the flyover and get speed control/safety measures in place and an independent expert committee evaluation,” he tweeted.