Kurnool, July 13: Eleven persons died and 20 others suffered serious injuries in a ghastly road mishap near Allagadda in the district in the wee hours of Sunday.
The accident occurred when a speeding private bus going to Madanapalle from Hyderabad hit a stationary lorry at Peddakandakur in Allagadda mandal.
The iron rod-laden lorry (AP21U3639) was parked on the roadside for repair.
The private bus (APC4U 4689) was heading to Madanapalle via Kadapa when the accident occurred around 5 a.m.
The quantum of the hit was so great that one side of the bus got mangled completely and the bodies were strewn around at the place.
The cleaner of the bus Venkatakrishna (43) also died in the mishap.
All the victims were natives of Kadapa district. They included trainee DSP Reddygiri (38), former Ramapuram MPTC member Prabhakar Reddy (50), Dinesh Reddy (22) of Ponnavolu village, Assan Basha (35) – reporter of a Urdu daily, Keerti Reddy (26) an engineering student belonging to Kadapa town, engineer Nagendra (38) of Vallur village, photographer Sripathi (35) of Boyanapalle, Swaroop Raj (23) belonging to Kadapa town, Mamata (30) and B Krishna (30) of Hyderabad.
Swaroop Raj and Mamata died receiving treatment while the remaining died on the spot.
Police confirmed that the mishap occurred as the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The 20 injured are receiving treatment in Kurnool and Nandyal hospitals. The condition of Rahamatulla of Kadapa, Chandrashekar belonging to Hyderabad and one Bhaskar Reddy was stated to be serious.
On information, officials and people’s representatives rushed to place and took stock of the situation. Allagadda SP Ganapathi Rao and Nandyal RDO Madhavi Latha shifted the injured to hospitals.
Nandyal MP SPY Reddy, Allagadda MLA Sobha Nagi Reddy, TDP Nandyal in-charge Farooq also visited the place and consoled the victims.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved families. He asked the officials concerned to ensure that the injured received required medicare till they recovered.
–Agencies–