Four workers were killed after a State Road Transportation Corporation bus mowed them down on the NH 163 (Hyderabad-Warangal) near Alair bypass in Yadadri-Bhuavanagiri district on Sunday.
Ankarla Varalakshmi and Oorella Shyam breathed their last at the accident site and Ankarla Kavitha died while being shifted in an emergency vehicle. Another victim Oorella Lavanya, wife of Shyam, who was in critical condition and rushed to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad battled for life for almost four hours before breathing her last.
All the victims hailed from Raigiri village in the district and were under contract with an agency that was conducting maintenance and repair works on the highway. One of the victims Shyam, an auto-rickshaw driver, used to pick and drop the workers daily.
Police said the accident took place around 4 p.m., when the highway workers were near the bypass on the highway and attending works. They had been cordoned by red traffic cones and red flags, enclosing them, a tractor and another earth mover for shifting soil.
Reportedly, as per other workers on duty and eyewitnesses, the bus was in high speed and rammed into their co-workers. A tractor that was parked along fell on its side due to the impact and the workers were dragged away under the bus wheels. The deluxe bus of Warangal-1 depot was going towards Hyderabad.
According to preliminary details gathered by Alair police, the accident appears to have taken place because of ‘overspeeding and oversight’ of the bus driver. A breath alcohol test was conducted at the accident site and it was found the driver was not under the influence of alcohol.
The highway witnessed heavy traffic jam after the accident till the police and locals joined to regulate vehicles and helped transfer the victims to a nearby hospital.
Other co-workers, also wearing reflective vests and highway safety gear as the victims, and relatives from Raigiri village grieving and wailing, said the victims were from poor families and they were there just to earn their livelihood.
