Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

1 killed in Tirumala ghat road mishap

By Our Special Correspondent

TIRUPATI June 7. In yet another fatal accident on the Tirumala ghat road in less than four days, one pilgrim was killed and four others were injured when the jeep they were aboard rolled off the road this morning.

It was hardly four days ago that an APSRTC bus coming down the Tirumala ghat road crashed through the parapet wall and plunged into a valley killing three pilgrims on the spot and injuring about 40 others when the driver reportedly lost control of the wheel.

According to the passengers on board the ill-fated jeep, which met with the accident today, it was the driver's desire for a puff of smoke that caused the tragedy. It was said that when the jeep had only 100 metres to go to reach Alipiri, the base of the hill, after traversing down the serpentine ghat road having nearly 60 hair-pin curves, the driver felt like having a puff. It was when he was trying to trace the missing beedi that he was said to have lost control of the vehicle and it hurtled down the ghat road and eventually rolled off the road and overturned.

In the impact of the accident, the jeep-top was compressed so much that it was reduced to one third of its original size, sandwiching all the inmates in the process. As the accident occurred on the plains after the jeep had traversed all the curves, a major disaster was averted.

The only unlucky pilgrim to have perished in the accident while all the nine others on board the jeep either escaped unhurt or with minor injuries was Subbalakshmi (45). Her husband and two sons and two daughters escaped with injuries and the family was from Edida village near Rajahmundry. The other family on board the ill-fated jeep was from Narayanavanam in Visakhapatnam district and all the injured were declared safe.

Meanwhile, the the TTD's Joint Executive Officer, P. Balasubramanyam, handed over an ex gratia of Rs.10,000 to the kin of the deceased and arranged medical relief to injured pilgrims.

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