Hyderabad: Three persons of a family and a driver travelling in an ambulance were killed when a speeding SUV jumped the median and hit the vehicle on the Outer Ring Road near Wonderla at Bongulur in Adibatla early on Friday. The accident was the outcome of a sleep-deprived techie dozing off at the wheel, said a police official.
The ambulance was carrying a cancer patient and his family members to Ballaru in Karnataka from Eluru in Andhra Pradesh. Bullireddy Venkateshwar Rao, 60, along with his wife Subba Lakshmi, 55, son Hemachander Rao and son-in-law Srinivas Rao were in the ambulance. The Eluru natives were long-time residents of Gangavati near Ballari.
About two days ago, Rao’s family went to Eluru to meet some relatives and started back on Thursday evening. They hired an ambulance and two drivers at Eluru and started at about 5 pm.
The SUV that rammed into the ambulance was being driven by Manoj, an IT employee from Hasthinapuram. Venkateshwara Rao and Subba Lakshmi died on the spot with severe injuries, while Srinivas, Hemachander and Rama Rao, ambulance drivers B. Shivashankara Vara Prasad, 30, and Syed Thouhiduddin suffered bleeding injuries.
“Soon after receiving an alert from Dial 100, a patrol rushed to the accident spot. Prasad was screaming for help as he was stuck in the ambulance. Rao and his wife died on the spot. Prasad was pulled out of the ambulance, but he died soon afterwards, and Rama Rao succumbed while undergoing treatment.
Hemachander, Srinivas and Thouhiduddin are currently undergoing treatment at Sunrise Hospital,” said Adibatla inspector P. Narender.
The inspector said that Manoj’s SUV was carrying six persons including three children. The family was heading to Hasthinapuram. A case has been registered under Sections 304 A and 337 of IPC for a probe.
They suffered minor injuries and were admitted to a private hospital for treatment.
"Prima facie, it is understood that Manoj, who was driving the vehicle for a long time, was sleep-deprived. When he dozed off, the vehicle headed towards the right side. It crossed the median and jumped onto the other side of the ORR and came to a halt only after hitting the ambulanc," he said.
Responding to a query, he said that they had confirmed the driver of the SUV was not under the influence of alcohol after checking with the breathalyser.
Ambulance driver was a sportsperson
Ambulance driver B. Shivashankara Vara Prasad, 30, was a hockey player who had represented an automobile company in league matches in London last year, said his friends from Eluru, who arrived at Hyderabad soon after receiving the news of his death in an accident.
Holding a handbag containing a pair of clothes and identification documents, Prasad’s father Ram Babu, who was devastated by the news of his son’s death sat to a side in the OGH mortuary, when he came to collect the body of his son.
Syed Abdullah, an ambulance driver from Eluru and childhood friend of Prasad, said, “He (Prasad) was calm and soft-natured and a sports enthusiast. Since childhood, he was interested in hockey. He played in several district-level competitions and league matches at London through an automobile company.”
“Prasad has two young daughters. Nandini (18 months) and Bhargavi (3 months). His wife is still at her parents’ house and has not come to our home after the delivery of the second daughter. My son was planning to celebrate his daughters grandly in March. He was our breadwinner and I do not know how to feed my family now,” said Mr Ram Babu. Prasad’s wife was informed about the accident, but not his death.
