Hyderabad, Nov 3 (UNI) The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) this evening officially confirmed that 19 people – 14 women and five men – died and 25 others were injured in a head-on collision between a lorry and a bus in Telangana’s Rangareddy district.
At around 6-15 am near Indira Reddy Nagar, Mirjaguda (within Chevella limits), the bus was struck head-on by a gravel–laden tipper lorry travelling in the opposite direction at high speed, said the Corporation Vice Chairman and Managing Director Y Nagireddy in a release here.
He said, “The tipper, loaded with gravel and hard stone chips from Lakdaram (Patancheru, Sangareddy District) en route to Manneguda, lost control while overtaking multiple vehicles, veering directly into the path of the oncoming bus”.
The impact caused extensive damage to the bus, with a large volume of gravel and dust pouring into the passenger compartment. This led to passengers being trapped, resulting in severe breathing difficulties, multiple injuries, and fatalities due to suffocation and trauma, he said.
Preliminary inquiry suggests that the bus driver was not at fault. There was also no complaint about the condition of the bus before the accident, he said.
The bus is equipped with all fitness and valid insurance certification, and the accident took place because of overspeeding of the heavily loaded gravel Tipper, which fell onto the bus after the driver lost control of the vehicle.
TGSRTC, in a statement, said it is fully committed to supporting the victims’ families and cooperating with authorities in the ongoing investigation. –
All 19 bodies have been shifted to the Government Hospital, Chevella for post-mortem examination and identification, he said.
Of the total injured passengers, 15 were shifted to Patnam Mahender Reddy Hospital (PMRH), Chevella while 10 passengers were shifted to Government Hospital, Vikarabad.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar along with TGSRTC VC and MD, personally visited the site, monitored rescue operations, consoled bereaved families, and directed officials to provide comprehensive support.
Minister for IT Sridhar Babu, Local MLAs of Pargi, Vikarabad and Chevella have also visited the accident spot and the victims at Hospitals.
Senior TGSRTC officials rushed to the spot to oversee operations and review the circumstances.
The senior police officers, Emergency Services officials, District Collector and the Revenue Department officials coordinated the rescue and relief operations.
The Transport Minister announced ex-gratia of ₹5 lakhs from the government to the kin of each deceased, besides ₹2 lakh from TGSRTC (Total ₹7 lakhs).
Further, he announced an ex-gratia amount of ₹2 lakhs to the injured persons by the government.
Victims will also get insurance amount through the Vehicle Insurance Policy in due course, he added.
