4 daily wagers mowed down by speeding tipper truck in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada district

Kakinada: Four daily wage workers, including three women, were killed and two suffered critical injuries when a speeding tipper truck ploughed through a group of MNREGS labourers in Kakinada rural mandal in the early hours of Saturday.According to police, the incident occurred around 6.30am, when a group of 20 employment guarantee scheme workers were logging their attendance on the biometric app on their phones. As the phone signal was weak, they walked up to a bridge where the tipper truck, plying on the wrong side of the road, mowed them down. Police suspect the truck driver may have dozed off at the wheel and lost control of the vehicle, causing the accident.“The labourers, from Cheediga village under Kakinada rural mandal, were headed to work. They were standing on the roadside and marking their attendance on their phones when the empty truck hit them,” Kakinada rural police station inspector Chaitanya Krishna said.While four people died on the spot, two sustained severe injuries. The injured were admitted to Kakinada govt general hospital, with two of them later shifted to a private hospital as their condition is reportedly critical.The deceased are Vasamsetty Satytavati (60), Palika Krishnaveni (35), Chittemma (45), and Chelluri Annavaram (45), while the two injured persons are Mattaparthi Aruna Kumari and Palika Nagamani. Ministers Nara Lokesh and Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy expressed shock over the accident, and directed authorities to ensure best treatment to the injured.