At least eight people were killed and 40 injured in a bus accident that took place in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district, late on the night of 26 March.
The incident happened around 10.30 pm at Bhakarapet between Madanapalle and Tirupati. According to the police, around 50 members of family and their friends were headed to Tiruchanur which is about five kilometres from Tirupati to attend an engagement ceremony, when the private bus that they were travelling in plunged into a 100-ft valley in the Seshachalam ghat road.
The victims include the driver and others belonging to a group of family and friends.
Hindustan Times quoted the police as saying, “Since it was late at night and hardly any vehicles passed by the road, nobody noticed the accident for over two hours. Moreover, there were no mobile signals deep in the valley to enable the survivors communicate with others.”
It was one only later at night that some travellers heard loud cries from the valley and alerted the Chandragiri police.
Since it was pitched darkness and the valley was very deep, the report said that the rescue team had to struggle a lot to bring out the survivors with the help of flood lights and torch lights.
Expressing his condolences in a tweet, President Ram Nath Kovind said:
"Distressed to know that a road accident in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh caused loss of lives. My condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured."
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha MP from YSR Congress said that the Andhra Pradesh state government is providing all possible assistance.
He also said that CM Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced an ex-gratia payment of two lakh rupees to each of the deceased's kin.
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