HYDERABAD: A lorry wreaked havoc at Hayathnagar on Friday when it rammed into a bus shelter after hitting an autorickshaw, leaving three persons dead and 13 others injured.

Among the dead were a roadside fruit vendor E. Suvarna, 29, and two unidentified persons -- a man aged about 35 years and a six-year-old boy, believed to be father and son.

Seven persons travelling in the autorickshaw and six others standing at the bus stop, including three schoolchildren returning home, suffered serious injuries in the accident that occurred around 4.30 p.m.

Seven members of a joint family boarded the seven-seater at Kavadipally to reach their house in Mazidpura. The autorickshaw was crossing the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway near Abdullahpurmet when the lorry going from the city to Vijayawada hit it from behind.

"Apparently having lost control, the driver turned the lorry left, only to smash into the roadside bus stop," the Hayathnagar police said. The lorry first hit two pushcarts, ran over a man and his two children waiting to catch a bus and came to halt only after bumping against a neem tree.

Suvarna, who was selling fruits on the pushcart, lost her two legs and died of profuse bleeding within few minutes. The unidentified man too died on the spot while the boy succumbed to the injuries while undergoing treatment at Osmania General Hospital. A four-year-old girl, said to be the unidentified victim's daughter, also suffered serious injuries.

Three students of Sai Niketan School -- Raju, Shailaja and Chandrika -- escaped with minor injuries while a flower vendor Balamma had her waist injured.

Demonstration

While some of the injured were shifted to a private hospital, others were shifted to Osmania General Hospital. Accusing the police of failing to check accidents on the highway, locals staged demonstration in front of the police station. The agitators urged the Government to keep barricades on the road to control rash and negligent driving.

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