Tirupati: In a gory accident, five members of the same family, including three children, were burnt alive while one other member sustained grievous injuries after the car in which they were travelling turned turtle and caught fire. The tragic accident took place near Mamadugu village of Gangavaram mandal in Chittoor district on Saturday.
According to the police, the deceased were identified as Manda Jhahnavi (35), her son Pavan Ram (14), daughter Sai Asritha (11) and her sister-in-law Kalavathi (35) and her son Bhanu Tej (10), all natives of Tirumala.
On learning about the accident, Chittoor SP Mr. Ch. Venkata Appalanaidu immediately rushed to the spot and directed the police to shift the lone survivor, identified as Manda Vishnu (38) to the nearby government hospital at Palamaner for treatment.
Speaking to mediapersons, SP Mr. Appalanaidu said that Manda Vishnu, who works as a junior assistant in TTD, and his family were on their way to Bengaluru during the wee hours on Saturday when their speeding Volkswagen Polo at first rammed to a iron railing along the Tirupati-Bengaluru national highway due to which the vehicle turned turtle and fell into a nearby pit.
Eyewitnesses said that the vehicle had caught fire before it fell off the national highway. As soon as it landed into the pit, the fire rapidly spread and five inmates of the car were burnt alive inside the vehicle before any help could arrive at the spot. On information from passersby, the local police immediately rushed to the spot and tried to rescue the inmates. However, the police managed to get only the lone survivor out of the burning vehicle and he was shifted to the Palamaner Government Hospital for treatment. “Our preliminary investigation revealed that the car had caught fire before it turned turtle. The fuel tank of the car exploded when the speeding vehicle hit the iron railing along the side of the national highway,” said Mr. K. Rajasekhar, Gangavaram SI.
“Manda Vishnu was on his way to drop off his sister Kalavathi and her son Bhanu Tej at their residence near Kagadaspura in Benga-luru. The accident took place near the AP-Karnataka border on Saturday morning," the SI added.
