Amaravati: Six people were charred to death and 20 others injured when a private bus caught fire after colliding with a tipper lorry in Andhra Pradesh’s Palnadu district early Wednesday morning.
The accident occurred near Pasumarru in Chilkaluripeta Mandal around 1 a.m. when the bus, heading to Hyderabad from Nilayapalem in Bapatla district, collided head-on with a tipper, police said. Injured passengers reported they were returning to Hyderabad after voting in Monday’s state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
The deceased were identified as Kasi Brahmeshwara Rao (62), Lakshmi (58), Srisai (9), bus driver Anji, and tipper driver Hari Singh, a native of Madhya Pradesh. One deceased is yet to be identified.
A fire engine rushed to the scene and extinguished the fire, but both vehicles were completely gutted by then.
The injured were taken to government hospitals in Chilakaluripet and Guntur.
A survivor recounted that passengers rushed out immediately after the bus caught fire. Some escaped by breaking and jumping out of windows. However, an elderly couple and a child could not escape.
The bus was carrying about 42 passengers from Nilayapalem Mandal in Bapatla district, returning to Hyderabad after casting their votes on Monday.
