Bapatla (Andhra Pradesh): In a ghastly road accident, six persons died in a blaze when a private travel bus collided with a tipper lorry in Eevuripalem village of Bapatla district in Andhra Pradesh.
Twenty other were injured in the early Tuesday accident in Chilakaluripet mandal, police said.
Chilakaluripet DSP Varma told the media that the private bus was headed to Hyderabad from Chinaganjam with 42 passengers.
It collided with the tipper lorry at around 2 am and flames erupted in the bus immediately. Six persons including the bus driver, tipper lorry driver and four passengers travelling in the bus were charred to death, he said.
Three of the deceased belonged to one family. Five of the deceased were identified as Uppgundur Kashi Brahmeswara Rao (64) his wife Uppugundur Lakshmi (55) and their granddaughter Mupparaju Saisri (9), Hari Singh (Tipper driver, belonged to Madhya Pradesh) and Anji (35) bus driver.
As many as 20 bus passengers were injured in the accident and they were admitted to GGH in Chilakaluripet, Guntur and in a private hospital.
Most of the passengers travelling in the bus were from Hyderabad and they went to Chirala and Chinajangam to cast their vote in the elections.
The accident took place when they were going back to Hyderabad. Since the road is under construction, the vehicles were allowed to pass on a single lane road.
As the front portion of the bus was badly damaged, the bus passengers could not escape resulting in the death of four bus passengers, the DSP said. A fire tender went to the spot from Chilakaluripet and extinguished the flames but by that time the bus was completely gutted.
Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazeer has expressed profound grief and anguish over the road accident. He offered his condolences to the bereaved family members and instructed the officials to provide better medical facilities to the injured persons.
Former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief and shock over the ghastly road accident and death of six people.