Three passengers of a private bus were killed when their vehicle rammed a stationary truck on the Narketpally-Addanki State highway in the Miryalaguda Town-I police limits in the wee hours of Tuesday.
While two passengers were killed on the spot, another person who was stuck between the vehicle debris and extricated later, breathed his last while being rushed for emergency service.
The victims were identified as Mallikarjuna, 40, and Nageswara Rao, 44, masonry workers hailing from Prakasam, and Vijaya Rao, 42, a farmer from Guntur. Ten others, including the driver who suffered a leg fracture, were taken to the Miryalaguda Area Hospital.
Miryalaguda police said that the accident took place around 2.45 a.m. on Tuesday, when the private bus running between Ongole and Hyderabad, rammed into a stationary truck on the State highway near Chintapally crossroads. There were about 40 passengers in the semi-sleeper coach bus at the time of the accident.
According to the driver of the stationary truck, he had pulled off his vehicle to fix one of the deflated tyres. Soon after finishing the job and coming out from the vehicle’s underbody, the speeding bus rammed the truck from behind, he said.
According to the bus passengers, the driver’s negligent and rash driving resulted in the accident. They said the driver had allowed three other passengers, near Dachepally, to sit in the driver’s cabin, and one of them had died in the accident instantly.
Miryalaguda police said the accident preliminarily appears to be a consequence of rash and negligent driving, and suspected drowsy driving. “Passengers, who spoke to us, said they had warned the driver twice about his rash driving,” an officer said.
Though the stationary truck had reflective stickers in its rear, its driver did not put a cautionary sign to alert oncoming vehicles, the officer said, adding his role of negligence was also being examined.
Police are investigating the case. As on Tuesday evening, cases for causing death by negligence (IPC 304A), and causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety (337 and 338) were booked against the driver.
