Telangana Bus Crash Kills 20, Days After Kurnool Fire
Visakhapatnam: At least 20 people, including a three-month-old girl, were killed in a head-on collision on the morning of November 3, after a speeding tipper lorry travelling on the wrong side of the road slammed into a state-run RTC bus near Chevella in Telangana's Rangareddy district.
The crash occurred around 7.30 am on the busy Vikarabad-Hyderabad highway. Preliminary police reports indicate the gravel-laden lorry (TG06T3879) was driving against the flow of traffic when it collided with the bus (TS 34 TA 6354), leading to catastrophic consequences. Records show the lorry had two outstanding fines for previous no-entry violations.
The tragedy prompted a swift and high-level response from the state government. Chief minister A. Revanth Reddy directed top officials, including the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, to oversee relief measures and ensure the injured were immediately shifted to major hospitals in Hyderabad, including Osmania General Hospital and Gandhi Hospital.
The definitive death toll was confirmed by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Superintendent of the Chevella Community Health Centre (CHC), where the victims were first taken.
“Twenty people have died in this accident, and their bodies have been brought to our mortuary,” Dr. Prasad told The Hindu. He confirmed that six passengers with minor injuries were being treated locally, while those in critical condition were transferred to specialist hospitals.
Transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar rushed to the accident site to assess the situation, while health minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha dispatched senior officials to coordinate medical care. Special teams of senior professors were formed to treat the injured admitted to Osmania General Hospital.
The collision caused massive traffic disruption on the highway for over two hours as police and rescue teams worked at the scene to clear the wreckage and assist the victims. An investigation is now underway to determine the precise circumstances and negligence that led to the fatal crash.
This tragedy is the second major road disaster to strike the region in just over a week, placing a harsh spotlight on transport safety and regulatory enforcement. On October 24, 21 passengers were burnt alive in a private bus near Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, after it hit a motorcycle, sparking a massive fire. Investigations into that incident revealed the bus had 16 pending challans for various traffic violations, including high speed and dangerous driving.
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