VIZIANAGARAM: Three persons died and 43 others were injured, nine seriously, when two APSRTC buses collided head-on near Sunkarapeta in Vizianagaram district on Monday morning.
According to initial investigations, lack of visibility due to smog while overtaking led to the collision around 8 am. The deceased have been identified as Ashirwadham and Devudu, both RTC drivers from Visakhapatnam district, and Sanyasi Naidu a passenger from Palakonda.
Nine of the seriously injured have been shifted to King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam. Six others with major injuries have been moved to hospitals in Vizianagaram for treatment. Rest of them have been treated as outpatients at Maharajah District Hospital, Vizianagaram.
As per information provided by police and RTC officials, visibility was low, as waste dumps on either side of the road had been set on fire in Sunkarapeta. After the two buses collided with one another, they got hit by another lorry laden with gas cylinders.
Soon after receiving information, Vizianagaram superintendent of police B. Rajakumari rushed to the spot. Police engaged a crane to detach the mangled busses.
Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has expressed grief over the deaths and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families. DIG L. K. V. Ranga Rao, Vizianagaram joint collector G. C. Kishore, and DSPs K. Anil Kumar and P. Seshadri are among those involved in rescue operations.
