Tirupati, January 04: Six pilgrims from Lucknow died and four others were injured when a Qualis collided with a lorry head-on at C Mallavaram in the early hours of Sunday.
The van driver also died in the mishap. The deceased were identified as Seva Pande (50), his wife Meera (40), Suneel Pande (45), Aravind (10), Ridhi (7), Kushbu Pande (27) and driver Rajesh (35).
Six of the victims died on the spot, while Kushbu succumbed to injuries at SVRR Hospital. The condition of the injured, who were admitted to SVRR Hospital, is stated to be stable. Superintendent of Police (Administration) RN Ammi Reddy rushed to the spot and oversaw the retrieval of bodies from the mangled van.
DSP V Ganga Raju said a 11-member pilgrim party left Lucknow on December 22.
After arriving at Chennai on December 24, they engaged a van and visited Rameswaram, Ooty, Kodaikanal and other tourism spots in Tamil Nadu.
The mishap occurred while the 11 members who were closely related were coming to Tirumala from Chennai. Beauty (14) escaped unhurt in the mishap. Negligent driving of the van driver was said to be the cause of mishap. The MR Palle police registered a case.
–Agencies–