According to police, the accident occurred around 2–3 a.m. when the out-of-control truck hit the bus carrying around 43 passengers from Chennai to Hyderabad.
Two trucks, one carrying oxen and the other loaded with iron, were traveling towards Tirupati. The iron-laden truck rear-ended the vehicle carrying oxen, leading to the latter breaking through the median. The private bus coming at high speed collided with the truck carrying oxen.
Both the accidents happened almost simultaneously. The impact left all three vehicles mangled, killing four persons on the spot. Two succumbed to injuries at the Nellore Government Hospital and another died at a Kavali hospital, said Kavali SDPO Venkata Ramana.
The deceased include both truck drivers Policepatel Deepak (21) of Telangana and Sonti Venu (22) of Nellore, bus driver Munuswamy of Tambaram, and bus passengers Koppadi Thambi Swamy of Krishna district, Attal Rupa (39) of Chennai, Anjuri Suresh (33) of Narasapuram, and an unidentified victim.
Hearing the loud crash, toll plaza workers, passersby and police personnel rushed to the accident site and launched rescue operations.
“We had to use gas cutters to retrieve a couple of bodies and the injured passengers from the mangled steel. Five ambulances shifted injured victims to various hospitals in Nellore and Kavali. Of the 15 injured people receiving treatment, four are stated to be critical,” a police official revealed.
Kavali MLA Ramireddy Prathap Kumar Reddy and Nellore SP Dr. Tirumaleswara Reddy visited the spot and the Kavali hospital. A control room with number 94407 96383 has been opened for information on victims.
In a press release from Raj Bhavan, Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer offered condolences to the bereaved families.
Telugu Desam leader Nara Lokesh emphasised on the need to upgrade medical infrastructure for providing improved treatment to road accident victims.
