The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : 27 killed in road accidents in Chittoor district

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

27 killed in road accidents in Chittoor district

By Our Special Correspondent

TIRUPATI, JULY 18. It was a black Sunday in Chittoor district where 27 persons, including 15 Tirumala-bound pilgrims, were killed in three different road accidents and six critically injured.

Tragedy struck a 17-member pilgrim party from Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu when the van in which it was proceeding to Tirumala reportedly collided head-on with a private bus while overtaking a vehicle.

In this accident that occurred at Gopalakrishnapuram near Puthalpet on the Tirupati-Chittoor State highway, 60 km from here around 7 a.m., 10 persons died instantaneously, four on the way to the Chittoor Government Hospital and one after admission into the Christian Medical College Hospital at Vellore in Tamil Nadu.

The vehicle was carrying members of two Jain families — all said to be relatives — who collected at Mayiladuthurai. The pilgrims left their village in Tiruvayyaru taluk at 5.30 p.m. on Saturday and had nearly reached Tirupati when the tragedy occurred. The two survivors in the mishap were battling for life when reports last came in. In the impact, five on board the bus which was on its way to Bangalore were critically injured. Police and passers-by had a tough time extricating the badly mutilated bodies and from the mangled mass of the van. Sources said the dead included six women and five men while the rest were all children.

The victims were: Kanchan Kawar (60), Manbar Devi (60), Mukhesh (32), Kailash (28), Sangeetha (30), Meenu (20), Vimal (18), Meenakshi (18), Guddu (10), Cheeman (10), Gnanaraj (38), Kantha (22), Chintu (8) and Keerti (5). The name of the one who died in the CMC was not immediately known. The Chittoor Superintendent of Police, V.V. Gopalakrishna, and other senior police and revenue officials besides medical teams reached the spot and arranged rescue and relief operations.

In another road accident in the district near Kallur, about 50 km from here, 11 persons died on the spot when the jeep in which they were proceeding to the weekly shandy rammed into a lorry from Tamil Nadu and reportedly telescoped into its under-carriage. The condition of four others who were admitted to the Piler Government Hospital is stated to be critical. Eight out of nine goats that the farmers were taking to the shandy also died on the spot.

In another road accident, Vijayananda Reddy of Chittoor was killed on the spot when the car which he was driving hit a lorry near Panapakam, 35 km from here. He was returning to Chittoor from Tirupati late last night when the accident occurred. The lorry reportedly overturned.

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