Hyderabad: In a horrific crash, 12 persons were killed when a lorry collided head on with an overloaded seven-seater rickshaw carrying 18 passengers in Mahbubnagar district on Sunday evening. The injured are in a critical condition, police said.
The victims were just half-a-kilometre from home in Kothapally in Midgil mandal when the accident occurred at about 7.30 pm on the Jadcherla-Kalwakurthy state highway. They were returning home after working in the agricultural fields. The accident spot is about 15 km from Jadcharla.
The impact of the crash was such that it reduced the autorickshaw to a mangled wreck.
Police said rescuers found it difficult to pull out the injured and extricate the bodies from the vehicle.
The 12 victims died on the spot. Of the survivors, two were rushed to Hyderabad for better treatment, three to the government hospital at Jadcharla and one Mahbubagar.
Police said the driver of the lorry (TS29 5488) fled from the spot after the accident. Police has launched a hunt for him.
Passersby and local villagers rushed to the spot and tried to help the passengers, most of whom were already dead.
The villagers said that fatal road accidents were common on the Jadcherla-Kalwakurthy highway due to its poor condition.
