Four people were killed when a speeding truck rammed into a car on the Yellandu-Mahabubabad road in Yellandu mandal of Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district on Friday, January 20. The victims were heading for a pre-wedding photoshoot. The incident happened at night.

The deceased were identified as Odela Kamalakar, 28, K Shivakoti, 31,B Ramu, 32 and B Aravind, 25, hailing from Kamalapur in Hanamkonda district. While Odela and Shivakoti hailed from Narsampet in Warangal district, the other two were residents of Kamalapur in Hanamkonda district.

According to police, five men were headed towards Alluri Sita Ramaraju district in the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh in a Swift car for a pre-wedding photoshoot. At around 10pm, a speeding truck on its way to Mahabubabad rammed into the victims’ car at the Kotilingala crossroad killing four of them and leaving another, identified as Kranthi, severely injured. Aravind, who was taken to hospital along with Kranthi, succumbed to his injuries at midnight while undergoing treatment.

B Raju, Circle inspector, Yellanadu Police station told TNM, “Kranthi has sustained head injury. He has been shifted to hospital in Hyderabad.” He added that the truck driver has been booked for rash and negligent driving. 

“The accident happened on a curve. The accident occurred primarily due to the curve and the men's unfamiliarity with the route," said Raju.

 Speaking to the media, the kin of mishap victims said their families are now left without any support. Shyam, a relative of the deceased, said the men had no regular employment and their primary source of income was photography. “The men were married and had children. One of them got married recently. Now the families are left with no source of income as their family heads have died in the accident,” he said.