Tirupati: Eight persons were killed and 13 others injured after their vehicle collided head-on with a fly-ash truck in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Thursday. Police suspect the driver of the mini pick-up in which the victims were travelling may have dozed off.The victims were part of 21 pilgrims from Chikmagalur in Karnataka who were going to Raghavendra Swamy temple at Mantralayam, a pilgrim town on the banks of Tungabhadra river in Kurnool.The accident took place on NH-167 near Chilakaladona village in Mantralayam mandal close to the AP-Karnataka border. The accident was so severe that the front portion of the pick-up was completely mangled. The other truck was going to Tumkur and its driver was lucky to survive.“All the eight died on the spot. The victims include five women, a three-year-old girl and two men,” Yemmiganur DSP N Bhargavi saidThe injured were shifted to govt hospitals at Yemmiganur and Kurnool by police. The deceased were identified as Kumar (60), Deepika Veena (35), Sunil (40), Puttamma (60), Meenakshi (50), Thayamma (60), Lolakshi (45), and Belli (3).Reacting to the accident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “I extend my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. An ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each.”Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and former CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also expressed their condolences to the bereaved families.The bodies were handed over to relatives after completion of postmortem.Kurnool police have registered a case.
