Ten people were killed and 26 others injured in a multi-vehicle collision in Telangana's Siddipet district on Saturday evening, police said.
The accident involving a bus of the state-owned Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), two trucks and a SUV occurred on Hyderabad-Ramagundam highway at Pragnapur in Siddipet district, about 60 km from the state’s capital city of Hyderabad.
According to the police, a bus proceeding to Mancherial from Hyderabad lost control and collided head-on with a truck coming from opposite direction on Rajiv Rahadari, as the highway is commonly known. The truck hit the road divider and collided with a Qualis and a container lorry. The Qualis was crushed between the truck and the container lorry.
Four women and two children were among 10 killed in the accident. While seven of those killed belong to same family and were travelling in Qualis, the remaining three deceased were bus passengers.
The occupants of the Qualis were reportedly returning home after a pilgrimage to Vemulawada.
As many as 26 passengers of the bus were also injured. They were shifted to government-run Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad and the condition of four them is stated to be critical.
Traffic was also hit on the highway as large cranes were deployed by the state government to move the remains of the vehicles to the side of the road.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who represents the Gajwel constituency in the district as a legislator, expressed shock over the ‘horrible’ accident. He directed officials to provide better medical treatment to the injured. He conveyed his condolences to the members of the bereaved families.
Transport Minister Mahender Reddy ordered a probe into the accident. Irrigation Minister Harish Rao, who hails from Siddipet and is also the local legislator, said Rs 5 lakh compensation each would be paid to the families of the deceased.
IANS inputs