14, including child, killed in Andhra after tempo with pilgrims collides with truck

At least 14 people were killed as the bus they were travelling in collided with a truck in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district on Sunday morning. Four other passengers who were travelling in the bus, who are children, are severely injured. The accident took place around 4 am on Sunday when a tempo traveller rammed into a divider on National Highway 44 and then hit a truck. The accident took place near Madarpur village of Veldurti mandal in Kurnool district. 

According to the official sources, the people in the tempo traveller were on a spiritual pilgrimage from Madanapalli in Chittoor to Ajmer in Rajasthan. All passengers belong to two families from Chittoor and Kadapa districts. According to the preliminary investigation by the police, the driver dozed off and was over speeding, which led to the accident.

Of the 14 people who died, eight were women, five were men and one was a child. The dead bodies were taken to the Kurnool Government General Hospital mortuary. Meanwhile, four others who were severely injured were taken to the hospital. Kurnool Collector G Veerapandian has given orders to give treatment to the injured for free of cost.

The truck was on its way from Warangal to Tadipatri when the tempo traveller lost control and collided with it. 

Speaking to the media, Kurnool district Superintendent of Police Dr K Pakirappa said, “It’s an unfortunate incident. The police rushed to the spot immediately. We are yet to find the cause of the accident. However, from the preliminary investigation, it seems that the driver was sleepy. We will further investigate the issue with a technical team to find if there was any issue with the vehicle.”

In another tragic incident on Friday, eight people lost their life in Visakhapatnam after the bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge.