Fourteen students and another person were killed and 35 injured in an accident when the RTC bus in which they were travelling fell into a gorge on the Madakasira-Penukonda ghat road in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
The bus started from Madakasira around 7:45 a.m. to Penukonda, 20 km away, picking up passengers, a majority of them students, numbering about 30 from Mavaturu and Bandlapalli villages and nearby hamlets. The students took the bus to go to Government Junior College, a private college and a private school, all in Penukonda. Around 8:30 a.m., when the bus began negotiating an uphill curve, less than 10 km from Penukonda, it fell into a 30-foot deep gorge while avoiding hitting an autorickshaw.
“The autorickshaw suddenly came on to the narrow, single road at high speed from the front. With no space left the driver swerved the bus and lost control. The bus slipped into the deep gorge from the jagged edge of the road, most of which was dug up for double-laning works,” said the conductor of the bus, S.M.Mohammed, who is being treated for injuries.
The bus fell into the gorge and the passengers who were trapped inside sustained head and bleeding injuries. It was a ghastly sight with the bus almost ripped apart and bodies strewn all around. Over 15 persons with severe head injuries were rushed to National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru. Others were admitted to hospitals in Hindupur and Penukonda. The driver of the bus, Gangappa, who hails from Lepakshi mandal and who was involved in a similar incident an year ago, was injured and was admitted to NIMHANS.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu who is in Vijayawada conducting a pre-budget review with officials and district Collectors, announced ex gratia of Rs. 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs. 2 lakh to the injured. YSRC president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy rushed from Hyderabad to console the bereaved families. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Governor, E. S. L. Narasimhan, condoled the death of the passengers.
