Nine dead as bus overturns in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitarama Raju district

At least nine people died after a bus overturned in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Friday, news agency ANI reported.

22 people were injured in the incident occurred on the ghat road between Chinturu and Bhadrachalam.

The injured have been shifted to Bhadrachalam Hospital for treatment, ASR District Collector Dinesh Kumar told the outlet.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Amit Bardar said the accident occurred around 4:30 am on Chintoor-Maredumilli ghat road near a Durga temple.

"At least nine people died and 22 were injured as the bus fell off the ghat road. The bus did not fully plunge into the valley. It turned turtle... and got stuck," Bardar told PTI, adding that four of the injured are critical.

The cause of the accident and the identities of the victims have yet to be revealed.

Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu has taken note of the incident and said in a post on X, “The accident involving a private bus carrying passengers near Chittoor district in Alluri Sitarama Raju has deeply shaken us. It is heartbreaking that several lives were lost in this accident. I have spoken with the officials regarding the accident and gathered details about the assistance being provided to the affected individuals. I have instructed the officials to take all necessary measures to ensure that the injured receive better medical aid. The government will stand by the families of those who lost their lives in the accident.”

In another case of a road accident, at least 21 travellers from Tinsukia in Assam are feared dead after an accident in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh, the outlet has revealed.

Police said that 22 travellers from Assam were in a minitruck which fell into a gorge on the Hayuliang-Chaglagam road.

21 people are feared to have died in the incident while only one has survived, Mayank Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Police of Tinsukia district, told ANI.

The incident occurred on 8 December after a truck skidded off a hilly road. Those on the truck were going to Hayuliang for construction work.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a financial compensation of ₹2 lakh from the PM National Relief Fund for the relatives of the deceased in the road accident. He also announced a ₹50,000 grant for injured people.

With agency inputs