Two magistrates of the Tirupati Court — Ravindra Babu and Suryanarayana Gowd — had a miraculous escape when their car crashed against the parapet wall at a hair-pin curve and reportedly nose-dived into a 15 feet deep valley.
The magistrates were returning to Tirupati after a darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala on Friday
Sources said the mishap occurred at the 12th turning on the first ghat road when one of the magistrates, who was said to be driving the car at the time of the accident, was trying to negotiate the sharp bend. The two magistrates sustained injuries.
According to a person in the team which rushed to rescue the passengers, but for the stump of a tree, the vehicle would have rolled further deep into the valley.
A court attender, Lokanadham, who was also travelling in the car, however, had to be extricated from the mangled vehicle only after cutting it open using gas cutters.
With the news about the accident spreading, Executive Officer and the Joint Executive Officer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), L.V. Subramanyam and Srinivasa Raju reached the spot and arranged rescue operations.
All the injured were rushed to the Government-SVRR General Hospital, Tirupati, for treatment after first aid. While Suryanarayana Gowd is the III Additional District Judge , Ravindra Babu is the Vth ADJ (Family Court).
Meanwhile, the TTD top-brass decided to put in place a well-equipped ‘rescue vehicle' to meet emergencies on the ghat road, especially during nights.
The vehicle would be equipped with flash-lights, gas-cutters, cranes and such other instruments, besides first-aid kits.
