At least five women were burnt alive in Andhra Pradesh's Sri Sathya Sai district when high tension power lines snapped and fell on a three-wheeler vehicle passing by. All the victims were farm labourers who were travelling from Gundampalli to work in sweet lime farms at Chillakondayyapalli in the district. One survivor was rushed to a hospital in Dharmavaram town. His condition is stated to be serious. Police have reached the spot and registered a case. Further investigation into the mishap is underway.
The incident happened around 7.30 am on the morning of June 30, Thursday near Tadimarri mandal of Dharmavaram constituency. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed shock over the accident and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the deceased. The Chief Minister also extended his condolences to the bereaved families and directed authorities to provide proper medical care to those injured in the accident. Telugu Desam Party General Secretary and MLC Nara Lokesh condoled the deaths and alleged that the negligence of the power department caused the accident.
Earlier in November 2021, five women were killed when a truck rammed into an auto-rickshaw carrying 13 farm workers on National Highway 44 at Pamidi. The farm workers were going to work at Kottalapalli village when the accident happened. In December 2021, four people, including two children, died when an SUV collided with an auto-rickshaw near Pulakunta village of Gummagatta mandal in erstwhile Anantapur district.
More recently in February 2022, nine people, who were all relatives, were killed in a road accident in Anantapur district, while returning to their native village at Uravakonda from Ballari in Karnataka after attending a wedding. A speeding lorry rammed into their vehicle, mangling the SUV badly. Later in April, the drivers of a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus and a truck were killed when their vehicles collided. The bus, which was on its way from Bengaluru to Hyderabad, rammed into a stationary truck near Miduturu village in Anantapur's Peddavadugur mandal.
With IANS inputs