A passenger who escaped the fire, speaking with TV channel said, among the dead, three people belonged to same family, including a nine-year-old.
Palnadu bus accident. (Screengrab)
Six persons were charred to death when a private bus in which they were travelling, caught fire after being hit by a tipper lorry near Chilakaluripet in Palnadu district, police said.
The mishap occurred during the intervening night of Tuesday, 14 May, and Wednesday, 15 May they said.
The tipper lorry was carrying gravel.
The private bus was carrying around 40 passengers from Bapatla to Hyderabad. According to TV channel reports, the passengers were returning to Hyderabad, after exercising their vote in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh went to polls for both Assembly and Lok Sabha on Monday, 13 May. As the fire spread rapidly, the passengers seated in the front rows were unable to escape.
Speaking to the TV channel ETV, a private ambulance driver, who reached the spot said, “I was called after about an hour after the accident took place.”
He further added, “By the time we reached, the bus was charred. We shifted people with minor injuries to Chilkurupeta government hospital, and shifted the ones with serious injuries to Guntur government hospital.”
Among the dead, three people belonged to the same family, including a nine-year-old girl child. It is being reported that the child was travelling with her grandparents to Hyderabad for summer vacation.
They have been identified as Kashi Bharmeshwara Rao (62), his wife Laksmi (58), and their grand child Sri Sai (9), belonging to the Neelayapalem village.
A passenger who escaped the fire, speaking with the TV channel said, “As they were old aged, they couldn’t move quickly, few other passengers have even jumped through the windows.”
“We got the information through some people about the incident. We have alerted ambulances and fire tenders. When we reached the spot, the bus was engulfed in flames. We understand that six people died,” a police official told TV channels, adding drivers of both vehicles died.
The official further said the injured were admitted to Chilkurupeta and Guntur government hospitals. It is being reported that at least 20 people have been injured.
State’s Leader of Opposition Chandrababu Naidu offered his condolences and urged the officials to provide necessary care for the injured.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula, with inputs from PTI and Bhaskar Basava)
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