The Hindu : Front Page : 12 persons go missing after lorry gets washed away

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Monday, Aug 11, 2008
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12 persons go missing after lorry gets washed away

Staff Reporter

Seven bodies found between Narakullapadu and Maddur

—Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Trying time: An earth-mover trying to fish out the tipper that got washed away in the Maddur Vagu on the Guntur-Amaravathi road on Sunday.

NARAKULLAPADU (Guntur Dt.): Twelve persons were feared dead when an empty sand tipper, carrying 30 passengers, was washed away at a causeway on the Maddur vagu (irrigation drain from paddy fields), on the Guntur-Amaravati main road at noon on Sunday.

While 11 persons swam to safety, seven bodies were recovered from the bushes between Narakullapadu and Maddur.

The remaining 12 persons are missing. The lorry, belonging to Sri Venkateswara Lorry Service (with Kakinada registration: AP5T3155), was lifted with the help of a crane at 7.20 p.m.

Rescue operations

Rescue and search operations were continuing till late in the night by Fire Services, police and local divers. According to survivors, the lorry driver lost control when he was close to the middle of the stream, where water was flowing seven feet above the road, and veered to the right towards the water current. The vehicle overturned and was not visible till 7 p.m. Divers tied ropes in an attempt to lift the vehicle.

Following heavy rain since Friday, all rivulets and drains were overflowing.

The RTC suspended services beyond Endrai village on the Guntur-Amaravati road since Saturday morning. People boarded the tipper between Guntur and Endrai.

Among those feared dead were five of a family hailing from Parsa village. Heavy flow in the stream hampered rescue operations.

Three of the dead have been identified as Segu Sambrajyam (55) of 75 Tallur Village, Sai (11), son of an FCI employee in Guntur, Kazaa Bee (35) of Krosur. Bodies of three adults and a one-and-a-half year old child were not identified.

Missing persons

Among the missing were Kamala (53), Priyanka (5), daughter of FCI employee B. Satyanarayana, who survived the ordeal, two sons of Gandham Pothuraju of Tallur and Nagamalleswari (11), daughter of Veligonda Lakshmi Narayana of Amaravati.

Five others of the family from Parsa--Saneja Malleswari (40), K. Mounika (23), Lakshmi (2), Guthikonda Lakshmi, Gopi Reddy(11)--were feared dead. Sagem Subba Reddy, (40) head of the family, survived from among the last six persons who boarded the lorry at Tadikonda Addu Road, just before the lorry capsized.

Transport Minister Kanna Laxminarayana, Collector B. Venkatesham, Tadikonda MLA Dokka Manukya Vara Prasad Rao, SP Mahesh Chandra Laddha and other officials supervised the rescue operations.

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