The pilgrims, who were trapped in the ill-fated car which fell off the skew bridge, could not get any help from the public or the police immediately at the spot.
The accident occurred around 1.15 p.m. and passers-by opened the doors by breaking the windowpanes and pulled out the two bodies.
Later, they rescued the injured, including two children and two women, from the car. However, they could not shift them to hospital immediately as nobody came forward to extend help.
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On normal days, about half a dozen policemen are on duty at Benz Circle, which is just a stone’s throw away from the spot. But today, no policemen reached the spot on time as most of them were deployed on bandobust duties.
“On seeing the plight of the passengers, we rushed towards the car and opened the doors by breaking the glasspanes. The boy died on the spot and the driver was struggling with multiple injuries. He died after a few minutes,” said an eyewitness P. Rambabu, “We brought out six more injured from the damaged vehicle and kept them on the road. We shouted for help, but nobody came forward. Police too did not reach the place by that time,” Mr. Rambabu said.
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Another eyewitness said that the two children were rushed to a hospital in an autorickshaw. Krishnalanka Circle Inspector Chandrashekar, who reached the place, shifted the others to the hospital.
Incidentally, Director General of Police N. Sambasiva Rao announced the launch of ‘Police Helping Hands’ for helping the needy just a few days ago.
Even a few hours after the accident, there was nobody to collect the details of the victims, alert the family members and take care of them as all the personnel were busy with the Pushkaram closing ceremony and the host of programmes organised in connection with the visit of shuttle badminton player P.V. Sindhu to the city.