5 Bengaluru Pilgrims Die in Highway Mishap Near Palamaner
According to police, the group had left Bengaluru early in a car bound for Tirumala.
Tirupati: Five pilgrims from Bengaluru were killed in a road accident on the Chittoor-Bengaluru National Highway near Gangavaram Cross in Palamaner on Wednesday morning while on their way to Tirumala for darshan. The deceased were identified as Mohan Das, 71, Nagaraja Rao, 61, Kusuma, 61, Jayanthi, 59, and Pooja, 33, all residents of Rajajinagar in Bengaluru. According to police, the group had left Bengaluru early in a car bound for Tirumala. Near Palamaner in Chittoor district, the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, which rammed into the rear of a truck moving ahead. All five occupants died on the spot. Gangavaram police rushed to the spot, extricated the bodies with the help of locals and shifted them to a government hospital for post-mortem. Circle inspector Ram Bhupal said a case was registered and an investigation was under way. Meanwhile, minister M. Ramprasad Reddy expressed grief over the incident and directed police to conduct a thorough probe.
