PNS|Paderu
In a ghastly road accident, an elderly couple was killed and 30 others were injured, four of them critically, when the APSRTC in which they were travelling, plunged into a gorge from the ghat road near here on Sunday.
Police said that the bus veered off the road and plunged into a 100 feet deep gorge from the ghat road at the viewpoint curve. The ill-fated RTC bus was going to Paderu from Chowdavaram when the mishap took place. Officials said that 33 people including the driver were travelling in the bus.
The driver of the bus noticed a massive tree that was uprooted and lying across the road. In a bid to avoid hitting the tree, he lost control of the vehicle, resulting in the bus veering off the road and falling into the gorge.
However, the bus stopped from rolling down further after hitting a tree. Since the accident took place in a dense forest, there were no cell phone signals. It took some time for the RTC crew to inform the officials about the accident due to the lack of cell phone signals in the area.
An elderly couple Eeshwar Rao and his wife Narayanamma were killed in the accident they belonged to Sureddypalem village in Sabbavaram mandal.
The police, revenue, and fire brigade personnel rushed there and extricated the injured from the ill-fated bus and brought them to the ghat road with great difficulty. Collector Sumit Kumar visited the injured passengers. He said that four of the injured were shifted to the KG hospital in Visakhapatnam as their condition is critical. The other injured persons were shifted to various hospitals in Paderu. The driver of the RTC bus Sattibabu also suffered injuries in the accident.
Meanwhile, Minister for Industries Gudivada Amarnath visited the accident site and inquired with the officials about the accident. The Minister also visited the injured in the hospital. The Minister announced a Rs 10 lakh ex gratia payment to the kin of each deceased and Rs 5 lakh to those who suffered permanent disability in the accident.
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed shock and grief over the accident. He directed the district officials to provide the best medical treatment to the injured.
TDP chief and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu also expressed shock and grief over the accident.
