Ongole: Fifteen persons who were heading for a marriage were killed on the spot and 20 injured when a bus collided with their mini-lorry collided at Cherlopalli, near Kandukur in Prakasam district, early on Saturday. Eight women and three children died.
Ill-fated lorry was carrying 35 people
According to Kandukur DSP V. Srinivasa Rao, the mini-lorry was carrying 35 people from Chevuru to a marriage at Malakondaswamy temple at Malakonda, 60 km away.
When the mini-lorry reached Cherlopalli, still 30 km short of Malakonda, a speeding bus coming from the opposite direction rammed into it at about 6.30 pm. The impact was such that the cabin of the mini-lorry got separated and the rest of the vehicle overturned and fell into a roadside canal. The mini-lorry driver escaped and is said to be absconding
The bus caught fire, while the driver and cleaner escaped. Police said rash driving by the driver of the bus, which belonged to a private travels company, had caused the crash. The bus was returning after dropping a group of students at a picnic spot at Lingasa-mudram.
There were allegations that the bus was carrying LPG cylinders and one of them had exploded, resulting in the fire. Police, however, said one of the bus tyres had burst and caught fire, leading to the blaze. Firemen were pressed into service to douse the fire and rescue the passengers.
The injured were shifted to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences and San-ghamitra hospital in Ongole and to the Kandukur Gove-rnment Hospital.
The police sent the bodies to the local government hospital in Kandukur for post-mortem.
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and YSRC president Y.S.Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed shock over the incident.
