11 dead as private bus falls off bridge near Vijayawada

VIJAYWADA: At least 11 died and 30 others were injured after a private bus travelling from Vizag to Hyderabad fell into a river channel under the bridge near Moolapadu village under Penuganchiprolu mandal in Krishna district.

The incident happened at 5.30 am in the morning, after the A

Narayana Reddy

, the bus driver fell asleep behind the steering wheel and crashed the heavy vehicle into a road divider and fell into a culvert under the bridge. Locals rushed to spot and rescued the injured survivors and called 108 and alerted the Nandigama police. Rescue workers found it difficult to save the injured let alone retrieving the dead bodies mangled inside the bus.

Amongst the 40 passengers, seven of them died at the spot and four other succumbed to injuries while taking them to

Nandigama Government Hospital

. The is expected to rise as another 10 of them are critically injured. Initially, the injured passengers were rushed to the Government Hospital in Nandigama for first aid and then shifted nine of them

Vijayawada Government General Hospital

for better treatment. Around 16 of them were sent to

Andhra Hospital

in Gollapudi village.

According to Deputy Transport Commissioner E Meera Prasad, the bus was speeding at around 110 kmph in NH 16 and crashed a 3-ft high wall and tumbled down 22-ft below the bridge. Transport minister Sidda Raghava Rao has ordered a probe into the accident. Some of the deceased identified were SK Bhasha (24) from Krishna district, Prabhakar Reddy from Vizag, Krishna Reddy of Nalgonda, Tulasi of Srikakulam, K Madhusudan Reddy of Hyderabad, Baldev from Odisha. Police have registered a case against Diwakar Travels and sent the dead bodies for post mortem. The investigation is presently underway.