Bus falls into valley in Tirupati: 8 dead, over 40 injured

Andhra Pradesh: At least eight people were killed and over 40 injured in a ghastly road accident near Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, police said on Sunday, March 27. The deceased and injured were travelling by bus to Tirupati. The incident happened late on the night of Saturday, March 26, when the private bus they were travelling in fell into a valley on the ghat road near Bhakarpet while negotiating a steep curve, the police added. The victims belonged to Anantapur district and were travelling from Dharmavaram to attend a wedding engagement scheduled for Sunday morning. 

While seven of the victims died immediately at the accident site, one more person died after being moved to a hospital. The condition of the remaining persons is stable, officials said. Over-speeding resulted in the accident, a senior police official told PTI. As it was pitch-dark, the rescue operation took a lot of time. Tirupati Urban Superintendent of Police Ch Venkata Appala Naidu and a team of police personnel rushed to the spot and pulled out the injured persons using ropes and shifted them to Ruia hospital in Tirupati. A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said that the injured were being treated at Ruia, SVIMS and BIRRD hospitals nearby. Later, the bodies of the deceased were extricated from the accident site.

The Andhra Pradesh government announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased, and a compensation of Rs 50,000 to those injured in the accident. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and others expressed grief over the accident.

Earlier on February 6, nine people returning from a wedding were killed when a car in which they were travelling was hit by a truck in Anantapur district. The father of the bride was among those killed in the accident that occurred near Budagavi village of Urvakonda mandal. According to police, the victims were returning home from a wedding in Ballari, Karnataka. The tragedy occurred when a truck coming from the opposite direction rammed into the car on Anantapur-Ballari highway between Budagavi and Kottalapalli villages. (PTI)