Four Spanish nationals were among five killed, and nine others were injured, two of them critically, when teh mini bus in which they were travelling collided with a container lorry at Eedigapalle village of Punganur mandal, 60 km from here, on Saturday.
A 13-member tourist group from Spain was on its way to the temple of Lord Arunachaleswara at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu after winding up their five-day visit in Anantapur district guided by an NGO Rural Development Trust. They left the Trust compound at 4.25 a.m. and the accident occurred at 9.35 a.m. The container's driver was negotiating a sharp curve in an accident-prone zone when the vehicle collided with the mini-bus. Immediately, other motorists and the residents of nearby villages rushed to the spot, and launched rescue operations.
Three bodies, including the driver (from Anantapur) and two Spanish nationals (including a woman and a man) were retrieved from the mangled steel. Eleven others, all Spanish nationals, were rushed to Government Area Hospital in Madanapalle, where two of them succumbed into injuries. Nine others were rushed to Columbia Hospital in Bengaluru, where the condition of three women is said to be serious.
The deceased were identified as Fransisco Pedrosa Gijon, 31, from Granada; Josefa Moran Molinillo, 65, from Ronda; Maria Nieves Lopez Navarro, 62; Vincente Perez Moreno, 50, from Ronda; and driver Sadiq Vali (45) of Basha Travels of Anantapur town. The five bodies were kept at Madanapalle hospital for autopsy.
Those admitted to Bengaluru hospital are Angel Dominguez Perez, Maria Rocio Chacon Saleguero, Cristina Reyes Rodriguez, Maria Dolores Bernal Pacheco, Maria De La Paz Gonzalez Cardenas, Immaculada Santiago Gonzalez, Concepcion Francisca Barquez Iraldo, Cristianana Gonzalez, and Isabel Maria Vallecilla Pineda.
Naidu condoles deaths
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu spoke to the Chittoor District Collector P.S. Pradyumna about the road accident and expressed shock over the incident.
