It was a black Sunday for a group of 15 pilgrims from Visakhapatnam district as five of them were killed and eight others injured when a van in which they were travelling collided with a milk tanker near Korisapadu on the Chennai-Kolkata highway in Prakasam district.
Tragedy struck the family proceeding to Tirupati to fulfil vow when newly-married woman and her uncle died on the spot while three other relatives succumbed to their injuries at hospital. The bridgegroom, Ramakrishna, is battling for life as also eight others including a three-year-old girl.
The girl, Keertana, was still unconscious at the Intensive Care unit of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences(RIMS) here. Thirtyone-year-old Anil Kumar, a computer operator with the Visakhapatnam District Sports Authority, was fortunate to escape with simple injuries.
The deceased were D.Swathi (25), Y.Simhadri (46), G. Govindamma (55), G.Prasannakumar (25) and U.Kalyan (19), Addanki Circle Inspector D.Prasad said.