6 die as bus catches fire after collision with tipper

Narasaraopet : Six passengers were charred to death when a private bus in which they were travelling caught fire after it collided with a tipper at Evurivaripalem Donka near Chilakaluripet of Palnadu district in the wee hours of Wednesday.

According to police, the private travels bus carrying the passengers to Hyderabad from Chinna Ganjam mandal of Bapatla district collided with the tipper at Evurivaripalem.

"Four men, including the drivers of the bus and truck, a woman and a minor girl died," the police said, adding that there were 42 passengers in the bus who were returning to Hyderabad after exercising their franchise on Monday. About 30 injured passengers were admitted to a hospital.

The deceased have been identified as U Kasi (65), U Lakshmi (55), her grandchild M Khyati Saishri (8), tanker driver Hari Singh (39), SK Mastan Sharif (47), and D Srinivasa Rao (54). All the deceased hail from Bapatla.

"As soon as we got information about the incident, we alerted the ambulances and fire tenders. By the time we reached the spot, the bus was totally engulfed in flames," a police official said.

The injured were given first aid at the Chilakaluripet government hospital and were later shifted to the GGH in Guntur for further treatment.

Police said rash driving by the bus driver led to the accident. They registered a case and took up investigation.

Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazeer and state BJP chief D Purandeswari expressed their condolences to the bereaved families.