VISAKHAPATNAM: The Vizag agency police on Saturday registered a case against Gurrampalli Srisailam, who was driving the bus that met with an accident in which four persons were killed and 22 injured on the Araku ghat road late Friday night. Cases were registered under Sections 304 A 338 and 337 of IPC.
The bus plunged into a gorge about 80 feet deep between Damuku and Tyda villages under Anantagiri police station limits.
Superintendent of police, Vizag Rural, B. Krishna Rao, said that the deceased were identified as Kottam Saritha (38), Kottam Satyanarayana (50), Kottam Nitya (8 months) and Kottam Latha (45).
The injured include Kottam Chandrakala, Naresh Kumar, Swapna, Sivani, Devansh, Aravind Kumar, Maniswini, Sanvi, Vihan, Mounika, Ayush, Sailaja, Hithish, Muthum Saitha, Munna, Jyothi, Kalyani, Abhiram, Anitha and L. Nanda Kishore. Driver Srisailam was also injured in the incident.
The SP said members of a joint family in Hyderabad had hired the bus from Dinesh Travels on February 10. They visited Kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada and later reached Annavaram the next day. After a night halt at Visakhapatnam, they visited Simhachalam temple, Borra Caves and Araku Valley on Friday. The mishap occurred when they were returning from Araku Valley.
Meanwhile, the driver claimed that brake failure and low visibility had led to the tragedy.
"Drowsiness and driver’s speeding might have caused the accident. We will examine the brake system and the mechanical condition of the vehicle to ascertain the exact reasons for the accident,'' said G.C. Raja Ratnam, deputy transport commissioner, Vizag.
