Six persons were killed and five others seriously injured near Sankepalli village in Anantapur district when the SUV in which they were travelling collided with a truck early on Saturday.
According to the police and eyewitnesses, five persons were killed on the spot while another died while being shifted to the Rural Development Trust Hospital at Battalapalli mandal headquarters.
The police said the SUV, proceeding to Tirupati, was carrying 11 people. The dead have been identified as Sailaja (38), Sruti (16), Kavya (2), Ranga Swamy (40) and Nandini (18), while the injured are Ramaiah (48), Sumitra (38), Dhanush (36), Muniraju (28), Ananta Lakshmi (30) and Sagar (10), all belonging to Nelmangala in Bengaluru.
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The bodies of the deceased have been handed over to the relatives after conducting post-mortem.
Police told The Hindu that the SUV went well out of its track hitting the right edge of the truck resulting in the accident.
“It took more than seven people and two earthmovers to pull out the vehicle from the truck and then open the doors of the mangled vehicle to rescue the injured,” said K. Prakash, head constable of Mudigubba police station.
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The police have filed a case and are investigating even as the driver and cleaner of the truck fled the accident spot.