Vishakhapatanam: In a ghastly road mishap, two persons were killed on the spot and three others escaped with minor injuries after two concrete beams of an under-construction flyover on the Anandapuram-Anakapalli stretch near Puppala Junction in Vizag district crashed on Tuesday evening.
The flyover is being constructed as a part of the six-lane project by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Scheme, which had entrusted the work to a private construction firm.
Anakapalle DSP Sravani said the concrete structure collapsed on a car and tanker truck. Two people, who were on the front seat of the car were killed while two women on the back seat sustained injuries. An occupant of the tanker truck was rescued by the police.
The deceased were Satish Kumar (35) of Sriharipuram and Sushanth Mohanty (38) of Arilova in Vizag city. The wives of Kumar and Mohanty – pregnant Sunita and Lakshmi -- were rescued. The police shifted the injured to a hospital. The police retrieved the bodies from the car.
The police said Kumar and Mohanty along with their wives came to Anakapalle Town for darshan of local deity Noolamma. The mishap took place when they were returning to their home.
The accident led to traffic jams on the route that has heavy vehicular movement and triggered panic among motorists on the stretch.
Police suspect a technical fault led to the collapse. They are investigating the case.
Alleging poor-quality construction, the CPIM demanded a detailed investigation into the accident. Vizag city secretary of CPIM, Ganga Rao, urged the government to provide ex-gratia of Rs one crore to the family members of the victims.
