Three youngsters were killed and two others suffered severe injuries after the water-tanker-laden tractor they were travelling on was caught in a pothole and toppled at Chinna Devada village of Bichkunda mandal in Kamareddy district in the wee hours of Thursday.
The victims, Tukaram (25), Sailu (24) and Shankar (25) from Madnoor and Daginda villages respectively, went to Chinna Devada to attend a marriage from the bridegroom’s side. The wounded are Chakali Sangu and tractor driver G. Maruthi.
According to Bichkunda police, the accident took place around 4.30 a.m. when the victims were returning to the groom’s house after filling the water tanker from a nearby waterbody.
As it was dark, the pothole was not visible. The driver, G. Maruthi from Chinna Devada, bumped the vehicle into a big pothole in the middle of the road. “The left front tyre of the vehicle got stuck in the pothole, as a result he lost control of the tractor and his hands were off from the steering,” police said.
They said that the victims died on the spot as they came under the tractor engine, while the injured are undergoing treatment at Banswada Government Hospital.
