Fifteen persons of a family from Maharashtra, including five women and seven children, were killed in a road mishap involving a tipper and an auto in Adilabad district of Telangana, police said on Sunday.
The incident occurred on the outskirts of Bhainsa town of the district at around midnight on Saturday when a speeding gravel-laden tipper collided head on with the auto carrying 18 persons, Adilabad District Superintendent of Police Tarun Joshi told PTI over phone.
Fourteen persons died on the spot and another died on way to a hospital after the tipper fell on the auto and its occupants were crushed to death, the police officer said, adding, three others who were injured in the incident were shifted to a hospital in neighbouring Nizamabad district.
The deceased were on their way to a temple and had hired the auto, the SP said.
"The deceased include five women, four boys and three girls," Bhainsa Rural police station Circle Inspector Vinod Reddy said. The family belong to Bhokar mandal in Nanded district of Maharashtra and they had been working in brick kilns in Nizamabad, he said.
"They all were going to Adeli village in Adilabad to visit the Pochamma temple. Apart from so many people travelling in one auto, it was also rash driving on the tipper driver’s part that led to the accident,” Reddy said.
He further added that “we usually ask people to avoid travelling together in such large numbers in an auto but people don’t listen to us. It has become a sort of culture in villages to travel in large groups in an auto which can be very dangerous".
PTI Inputs