Eight pilgrims from Chikalapudi of Machilipatnam town were killed and 20 others were injured when a private tourist bus in which they were travelling fell into a rivulet near Karmala at Temburni in Solapur district of Maharashtra in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The mishap occurred at around 3.30 a.m. when the bus driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a turn and hit a culvert.
The victims were returning from a pilgrimage to Shirdi and were proceeding towards Pandharpur.
About 50 passengers hailing from Machilipatnam began their journey on September 27 and were to return on October 9. The bus owned and operated by Maganti Srinivasa Rao of Penumaluru was hired by N. Jaganmohan Rao, one of the passengers.
The victims have been identified as Chalamalasetti Ranganatha Rao (60), N. Jaganmohan Rao (55), N. Krishna Kumari (45), J. Venkataravamma, P. Lakshmi, P. Reshma, Gadela Venkateswaramma (45) and Biram Seshumani.
Six persons were being treated at a hospital in Solapur and the State government arranged a special flight to shift 29 other pilgrims from Solapur to Gannavaram in Vijayawada.
The flight, which took off at 2.30 p.m. from Solapur, arrived at Gannvaram airport around 6 p.m.Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and Excise Minister Kollu Ravindra were present at the airport and consoled the pilgrims.
The Ministers said the government was making necessary arrangements to shift the bodies in ambulances to Machilipatnam. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu expressed his condolence to the bereaved families.
