6 devotees killed in a road accident at Rayalakota
The deceased and all the injured except one, were travelling in a jeep.
Nellore: Six persons were killed on the spot and nine injured — two of them critically — in a road accident at Rayalakota in Agaraala village of Chandragiri mandal, Chittoor district, on Tuesday. The deceased and all the injured except one, were travelling in a jeep to Tirumala from Yelahanka in Bengaluru. The mishap took place when the jeep collided head-on with a speeding lorry heading towards Bangalore from Guntur.
According to available information 13 persons belonging to Yelahanka left the place in the jeep around midnight on Monday for a darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala. The mishap took place around 5.40 am near Agarala.
Investigations are on. The jeep was totally damaged in the accident and police suspect that its driver Kiran might have dozed off leading to the mishap. While three bodies were strewn on the road, three bodies were struck in the jeep and police had a tough time extracting them from the damaged vehicle.
The driver of the lorry also sustained grievous injuries but the cleaner escaped with minor injuries. The deceased have been identified as Kiran (driver) 37, Suresh 32, Parvatamma 42, Ramya 37, Gowramma 36 and Suma 17. The injured Madhu 22, Pujappa 34, Sobha 52, Muneaiah 42, Nagamma 33, Munamma 42 and lorry driver Jafar have been shifted to Ruiya hospital for treatment. Lorry cleaner Srinivasa Rao blamed the driver of the Toofan vehicle for the terrible mishap.
The deceased and injured were neighbours in Yelahanka according to one of the injured, Munemma. Chandragiri inspector Siva Prasad and S-I Jayachandra rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to Ruiya hospital. The bodies of the deceased have been sent to SV Medical College.
