At least five devotees, who were on their way to the popular tribal festival Medaram Jatara, were killed in a road accident in Telangana's Mulugu district on Saturday, February 19. A car in which the devotees were travelling collided head-on with a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus on the Warangal-Medaram road, police said.
According to the police, the accident occurred near the Gattamma temple when the car with six people of a family inside, rammed into the bus coming from the opposite direction. One person was injured and was admitted to a local hospital. Rescue workers had a tough time retrieving the bodies from the car as it was badly mangled in the collision. However, there were no casualties among bus passengers.
The accident led to a huge traffic jam on the highway. The damaged car had to be removed with the help of a crane to clear the road. The deceased belonged to Chandrupatla village in Mulugu district, and they were on their way for darshan of Sammakka Saralamma Jatara or the Medaram Jatara, a festival celebrated in Telangana to honour Hindu tribal goddesses).
Saturday was the last day of the four-day tribal fair, which is considered the biggest in Asia.
This year, the Telangana tourism department offered helicopter services from Hanumakonda to Medaram, for devotees who were wary of COVID-19 and wanted to save time. The operator charged Rs 19,999 for an up-and-down ride per head, while a chopper service offering an overhead view of the Medaram Jatara was also available at a cost of Rs 3,700. Tribal and non-tribal people converge for the festival once in two years from various parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha for the festival.