Two men died of electrocution in a road accident in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday morning, after their car hit an electric pole. The victims, Sathish (who was driving the car) and Hanumantha Rao, were among the five people who were travelling in the car from Gokavaram to Visakhapatnam, when their car met with the tragic accident near Mallisala village of Jaggampeta mandal.

According to Jaggampeta police, after the car hit the electric pole, the two men got out of the car. They accidentally touched the live power lines that had fallen on the car because of the collapsed electric pole, and were electrocuted. The three other passengers, who were in the back of the car, got out safely, escaped with minor injuries. The car then caught fire. The three injured persons are now safe, police said, and are being treated at the Jaggampeta government hospital.

All five persons travelling in the car belonged to the same family, according to reports. The deceased have been identified as Veerni Hanumantha Rao (56), a resident of Bukka Veedhi in Visakhapatnam, and Mattu Sathish (41), a resident of Faizullabad in Gokavaram, East Godavari district. Hanumantha Rao’s wife Veerni Ramadevi (52) survived the incident, along with Mannem Bhanu (46) and her son Mannem Aditya Kumar (25), who are also residents of Bukka Veedhi.

Earlier in December, in a bike accident in Anantapur, two persons were burnt to death when their motorcycle caught fire after colliding with a truck. The petrol tank of the bike caught fire, after it was damaged from the impact of the collision. Petrol spilled out from the tank and the vehicle caught fire. The flames had engulfed the bike and the truck, and the two men on the bike died on the spot, having no time to escape. The accident happened on the Gooty-Nellore national highway between Engilibanda and Kothapeta villages.