Vijayawada: At least 11 dead, 30 injured after private bus falls into river

Vijayawada: At least 11 people were killed and 30 others injured after a private bus heading to Bhubaneswar from Hyderabad fell into a river near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh early morning on Tuesday.

While nine people, including driver Adinarayana Reddy were killed on the spot, one passenger died in a hospital at Nandigama while another died while being taken to Vijayawada.

The private Volvo bus with 44 people on board was on its way to Hyderabad from Bhubaneswar when the mishap occurred between two culverts on the highway, police said. The passengers were fast asleep during the accident.

The injured have been taken to the Nandigama Government Hospital, said reports.

Of the 30 injured people, 10 are critical, said a report. The bus, Diwakar Travels, was owned by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA from Tadipatri JC Prabhakar Reddy.

The bus had made a stop at Vijayawada along its 1000-kilometre journey, where a new driver took over. It overran a bridge divider and plunged through the gap between the two lanes into a river in Mullapadu around 5:30 am, said reports.

The bus driver, who was also killed in the mishap, was drowsy and lost control over the vehicle, police said.

Soon after the incident, an eye witness called the police. Authorities in Krishna district were asked to constantly aid the injured and track their health condition. Gas cutters were used to rescue the passengers.

Nandigama Deputy Superintendent of Police Umamaheswara Rao is supervising the investigation. Krishna District Superintendent of Police Vijaya Kumar rushed to Mullapadu to oversee rescue and relief operations.

Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Chinna Rajappa and Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas are continuously monitoring the situation. Transport Minister Sidda Raghava Rao has ordered an inquiry into the mishap.