16 dead in truck accident in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district

Gandepalli, Andhra Pradesh: In a major road mishap, as many as 16 labourers were killed and several others injured when a lorry carrying fly ash rammed into a tree at high speed and overturned trapping the labourers under it at Murari village of Gandepalli mandal at East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh in the early hours on Monday.

According to police, the lorry was on its way from Vijayawada to Visakhapatnam when about 35 labourers who were working in fields at Chinthalapudi mandal boarded it to reach their home villages of Prathipadu and others in East Godavari at Eluru Bypass road. As the lorry was nearing the Murari village, the lorry driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the tree on the road margin. Under the impact, the lorry overturned and fell in the fields. Both the driver and cleaner of the lorry escaped soon after the mishap.

Local villagers swung into action and rescued some of the labourers trapped under the belly of the lorry. Meanwhile, minister for finance Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Collector H. Arun Kumar. SP M. Ravi Prakash rushed to the accident site to supervise the rescue and relief operations. All the injured were shifted to government hospital for medical treatment in Rajahmundry. State government announced ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased to the tune of Rs two lakhs immediately.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief and condoled the death of the labourers and directed the district Collector over phone to provide better medical treatment to the injured labourers. Deputy CM N. Chinarajappa, minister for I and PR Palle Raghunatha Reddy arrived at the government hospital to take stock of the development.