A bus accident in Chittoor claimed nine lives which include the driver, and 44 injured on the night of March 26 in Bhakarapeta. The accident is alleged to have been caused by the driver’s negligence and overspeeding.
According to the police, the injured parties were admitted at the SVR Ruia Government General Hospital in Tirupati. Ten people are said to be seriously injured while three are critical.
One of the survivors, 28-year-old Malishetty Venu, was quoted by The New Indian Express as saying that they kept pleading with the bus driver to slow down but he did not pay any heed.
“We started around 3 pm from Dharmavaram for my engagement function in Tiruchanoor on Sunday morning. We made a halt at a dhaba in Pileru for dinner. After we resumed the journey, we asked the bus driver to go slow during night. The driver ignored our pleas and didn’t notice the vehicle coming in the opposite direction. While trying to avoid it, the bus fell into the gorge,” he said.
Speaking to Siasat.com, sub-inspector Vijaya Kumar of Chadragiri police station said that the postmortem test will be conducted over the driver’s body to ascertain if he was drunk while on the wheels.
“We will be conducting the visra test to determine his physical condition. The results will come in a few days time,” he said. The visra test is conducted as a part of the postmortem on vital organs such as kidneys, liver etc.
The accident appears to have taken place while the victims were on their way to an engagement.
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