Tirumala, May 16: Twenty-four pilgrims were injured when an RTC bus went down the slope on the Tirumala- Tirupati ghat road on Sunday evening.
While negotiating the 44th curve on the downward journey, the driver applied brakes to slow the vehicle down but it did not work. As a result, the bus veered off the road, hit the railing, jumped over the parapet walls and came to a halt after hitting a big tree. During its 18-metre slide down the hill it rammed several trees.
The driver of the bus was among the 24 injured, and the condition of five of them is said to be serious. Passersby and TTD employees rescued passengers from the bus and rushed them to the SVR Ruia Government General Hospital in Tirupati.
Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy called up TTD EO IYR Krishna Rao and district collector and asked them to provide proper treatment to the injured.
–Agencies